A steady trickle of resignations at the DA is decimating the organisation as senior leaders across the colour line turn their back on the party to seek alternative political home, former Midvaal mayor Bongani Baloyi said yesterday in an interview with the Sunday World.
Baloyi, now a senior member of the Herman Mashaba-led ActionSA, spoke soon after the news of the resignation of former senior member of the DA, Mbali Ntuli, broke.
Baloyi left the DA after the last November 1 local government elections to join ActionSA after an illustrious long span as the Midvaal mayor.
Among other things Ntuli cited as reasons for quitting the party, was that she had started to feel a sense of disillusionment with the party; and that the environment was becoming toxic to bear, causing her moments of anguish and anxiety and uncertainty, coupled with a sense of mental heaviness or fatigue, or a state of a sadness or uneasiness – a combination of compounding factors that had just become heavy to bear.
At the time of her resignation, Ntuli was a member of the provincial legislature (MPL)in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government, and had over a period of years worked hard to grow the party’s membership in the province, especially the youth.
Driven by her passion for youth development, Ntuli said it was her plan to bounce back to public life in civic or non-profit space, in order to champion the cause of young people – without foregoing politics.
Of the way forward, she made allusion that the details of her new project would be made clear once everything had been crystalised, but that she was happy to be starting a new life without being burdened by the DA politics.
Weighing into Ntuli’s resignation, Baloyi said the country could not afford to lose talented and courageous leadership displayed by young leaders such as Ntuli. He said Ntuli has a huge role to play in the country’s politics.
“However, the sad reality points to the fact that things might not be good at DA. We cannot rule out these possibilities. But speaking for myself, I do not need anybody to affirm me. When I left my position at the Midvaal, I was at the top of the game. Nothing intimidated me, not even the DA top leadership. I was driven by the desire to serve the community of Midvaal.
“Every day, that passion drove me to deliver services to the people without fail, to fulfil the mandate ascribe to all government leaders by the constitution, which is to improve the socio-economic conditions of the residents,” Baloyi said.
Although he personally did not experience any mental strain or fatigue in the DA, Baloyi said there were stories of many people of all cultures within the party who could be breaking as result of toxic politics in the organisation.
“It is not just young black people who are leaving the DA. White people are also leaving the party. The councillor in Pretoria, Hannes Coetzee, has recently left the DA to join us at ActionSA. And there are many others. Athol Trollip who spent a lifetime at DA, could not in the end take it, so he quit, and so did many other prominent names.
“I think I understand where Mbali’s story is coming from. She should take some time to recharge her battery, and then she must come back. The world needs her expertise and her political acumen. She has a huge role to play to uplift her community and the country as a whole,” said Baloyi.
