Zwakele Mncwango, former DA chief whip in KwaZulu-Natal, has been appointed as the chairperson of ActionSA in the province, the party said on Monday.
Addressing a media briefing in Durban, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba and national chairperson Michael Beaumont said they have faith in Mncwango.
Mncwango, who resigned from the provincial legislature on October 5, said he will not speak about his former political party, saying his immediate focus is to grow ActionSA in KwaZulu-Natal.
This despite having said, according to the DA, that he will remain a member of the opposition party after resigning.
Mncwango joined the DA in the early 2000s and has served as a member of the legislature since 2018. He was also the party’s provincial leader from 2015 to 2021. Mncwango has since been the DA’s provincial chief whip.
He rubbed many people in the blue party the wrong way by challenging the status quo.
Sunday World reported previously that he often butted heads with the so-called old guard of the party, including its head honcho Helen Zille, over what appeared to be the systematic silencing of black voices in the party.
Speaking to Sunday World, Mncwango said the DA’s ideological shift had drained him emotionally, saying he was driven to the edge.
“I realised that what was happening in the organisation resembled a party that was no longer interested in inspiring change in the country,” he said.
“There was no space to engage robustly on pertinent issues that affected the majority. An atmosphere of fear was created where people couldn’t speak out freely.”
He said the straw that broke the camel’s back was the DA’s wishy-washy approach on the land question and its approach on policies aimed at addressing past injustices.
This includes the unceremonious departure of key black leaders to which, he said, the party took a business-as-usual approach.
“When I joined the party, it was their values of creating an equal society and one South Africa not polarised by race that attracted me. I feel that these ideals have been abandoned. The DA is at a crossroads and there’s a growing tendency to stifle freedom of speech and opinion inside the party.
“Mmusi [Maimane] and other leaders left the party and it had a negative impact on elections, but you could see that the leadership was not bothered,” said Mncwango.
The exodus of black leaders began with the departure of Mashaba, who said he was driven out of the party by a strong cabal that was against his pro-poor policies. He was followed by Maimane, who also said the DA was no longer the party he joined and loved.
Other former DA leaders who have found new political homes include Phumzile van Damme, former deputy federal chairperson Makashule Gana, former KwaZulu-Natal member of provincial legislature Mbali Ntuli, and Bongani Baloyi, the former mayor of Midvaal.
Recapping on his future, Mncwango said he will not be lost to politics. “I have received several offers from the private sector and NGOs [non-government organisations], but I believe my passion is in politics.
Also read: Zwakele Mncwango resigns as DA chief whip in KwaZulu-Natal
Mncwango joins DA black leadership blaxit
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