South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance gets interim leader

South Africa’s ex-opposition chief whip John Steenhuisen has availed himself as interim leader for the opposition Democratic Alliance.

The ex- DA chief whip’s decision follows the resignation of the party’s leader last week.

“Underpinned by the values and principles which I have set out today. And it is these that will continue to guide this party through the trying times that we are in. And I have no doubt that we will emerge stronger as a result of this. It is for these reasons that I can announce today that I have decided to avail myself for the position of the DA interim leader and ultimately the federal leader at our congress in April 2020”, Steenhuisen said at a press conference in Cape Town on Monday.

Steenhuisen said he hopes to turn the party’s back on the race based obsession in recent times.

“I sincerely hope that what the party will do is turn its back on this lavish race based obsession over the last few years because it has led the party into a situation where we have actually lost votes across all communities. White and black have turned away from the DA and I think it’s largely as I said a result of us not being clear of our values and what we stand for”, he added.

Mmusi Maimane resigned as DA’s leader last Thursday, and also resigned his parliamentary seat. He said he no longer believed the party was the best organisation to achieve the dream of a united, non-racial South Africa.

AFP