Who will replace Tony?
Donwald Pressly
Cape Town - The surprise decision by Tony Leon to stand down as Democratic Alliance (DA) leader next May has opened up a hornets' nest within the party.
A coterie of white English speaking males, which have surrounded his leadership, could face internal exile if their "man" does not win the leadership race.
They are led by Ryan Coetzee, the official opposition's chief executive officer who was appointed to Parliament directly by Leon in conjunction with Ian Davidson, the Gauteng leader, in 2004.
He had not been a candidate in the electoral process and owes his senior status in the party directly to Leon.
He also rose over the heads of election strategist Greg Krumbock, a member of the National Council of Provinces, and Russell Crystal, a key strategist turned events organiser for Leon, to take the post of chief executive officer.
Leadership race
While it is early days for the race for a leader, it appears that Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille is ahead in the field - but a canvass of Members of Parliament has indicated that Coetzee, relatively unknown outside parliament, is viewed as an option as well.
One Afrikaans speaking MP who did not wish to be named said Coetzee captured all that was best in the DA. He had led the transformation campaign of the party - from a 1.7% party in 1994 to a 10% party and official opposition in 1999. It rose to 12% in 2004.
Another Afrikaans-speaking MP said Coetzee - who despite his name struggles to speak Afrikaans - recently had led the campaign to "career path" young black leaders to take up future leadership positions in the party. He had the characteristics of a leader, the MP said.
Curiously Davidson has joined Eastern Cape MP and former Nationalist Party cabinet minister Tertius Delport as canvassers-in-chief for Zille, according to some MPs.
One MP explained that Delport - known to be in the conservative wing of the party - backed Zille at any price because he did not want another liberal - Eastern Cape leader Athol Trollip - to be national leader.
Qualities for national leader
Trollip, like Zille from the Progressive Federal Party tradition of the party, defeated Delport narrowly for the leadership of that province in 2003.
Another Afrikaans-speaking MP gave his backing to Zille. "She has the qualities to be national leader," he said. When asked whether the party could risk having Zille giving up the mayoralty, he said that the national leadership was a far more important project.
It is understood that the Zille camp is planning that someone like Davidson could be parliamentary leader of the party - while Zille would remain mayor. If she, indeed, does run for party leader it will mean that the liberals will be split in three ways - Trollip, Zille and Coetzee, although the latter is viewed to be in a conservative camp.
Richard Calland in his "Anatomy of South Africa" describes Coetzee as having gumption and chutzpah. Noting that he was originally initially hired as an intern in MP James Selfe's office, he went on to greater things - once he had landed a memo on Leon's desk identifying the malaise in the then Democratic Party.
Later came the "fight back" campaign - Coetzee's brainchild - of the municipal poll in 2000 which Calland noted was successful in attracting "the most gatvol (disaffected) of voters" while at the same time offending the biggest available - black - political market.
Battle for survival
Coetzee's ambitions - and, at once, antagonism to Zille - was captured in his retort in a SAFM debate on the leadership on John Perlman's show this week when he accused journalist Troye Lund of Finance Week of using "cowardly anonymous sources" linked to the Zille camp of the party, in motivating her story that Zille would make a better national leader than Leon.
Despite Coetzee's misgivings, Lund got her story more right than she had anticipated at least in so far as predicting that Leon would be vacating his post.
Coetzee's drive to be leader is a battle for survival. He has stepped on many toes while clutching on to the political shirt tails of the leader but he has underpinned others. Among his victims have been Dr Bukelwa Gilberta Mbulawa, now ambassador to Finland - who crossed to join the African National Congress during the first term of the democratic parliament.
Former rising star and parliamentary finance spokesperson Raenette Taljaard - now with the Helen Suzman Foundation - is known to blame chief whip Douglas Gibson more for her disaffection with the parliamentary style of the DA but Coetzee is known to have had a role in her leaving parliament in 2004.
Surrounding Coetzee are David Maynier - who previously ran Leon's office and whom Calland now describes as doing menial work cold-calling for corporate donations as director of finance - head of research and communications department Gareth van Onselen, as well as Paul Boughey, who is chief of staff in Leon's office, and playwright Guy Willoughby, who is Leon's speech writer.
A Zille win could hamper their prospects. It is unclear whether a Trollip win could save their bacon, but a Coetzee victory would reinforce the white English speaking male lobby in the party.
News was from www.news24.co.za
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
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