GARETH VAN ONSELEN: The DA’s paradise lost
The Helen Zille-Mmusi Maimane standoff is over; she was broken but there are consequences beyond that
Like a colossus Mmusi Maimane towered over the DA federal congress in May 2015. Elected leader with a 90% majority, he was the inevitable culmination of a narrative that had gripped the party for over a decade. The first black leader. The end of history. From his elevation to the very top, all else would flow. So the teleological tale foretold. And such was the new enthusiasm that followed in his wake, a curious political anomaly was born: a party almost wholly united. Paradise. But every Titan must face a test. A choice. And every choice has consequences. Politics is entropic and unity is the singular abnormality against which those unseen forces constantly rally. They have been hard at work on the DA.That Maimane’s first defining examination should come from Helen Zille, his greatest sponsor, was a cruel twist. That it should be a paradox, crueller still. After much time he has now given his answer. It is all it ever could be: a balance of probabilities. Thus, it will please no on...
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