GARETH VAN ONSELEN: The hollow institution
Mmusi Maimane takes full credit for the DA's poor election showing; he has to, because who else is there?
This election was supposed to be about the ANC’s integrity as an institution. It was supposed to reveal an organisation denuded of intellectual authority, wrapped up in denial and strategically compromised by internal contradiction. Perhaps it did. But less expected was that it revealed all of that applies equally to the DA. With a dire result, which portends dangerous consequences if unchecked, the party’s true nature has been laid bare for all to see: a hollow institution, the product of a hollow leader. If your assessment of Mmusi Maimane is that he is the hollow man, lacking both the political IQ and EQ needed to lead a party and project as complex as that of the DA, then the DA’s hollowing out was always to be expected, just as night follows day. If your assessment of Maimane is that he is the very embodiment of the “right stuff”, then it is some other key individuals inside the organisation who have failed fundamentally. It is likely a bit of both. And you can throw into the m...
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