DA leader John Steenhuisen. Photo: Victoria O’Regan/Getty Images
The Multi-Party Charter and Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) influential funders in the business community are said to be in search of a new face for the opposition coalition — and the country’s largest opposition party.
Insiders close to the talks say that although the DA’s John Steenhuisen is the leader of the biggest party in the coalition and the public face of the charter, there is little confidence that he will draw the votes needed to topple the ANC in the coming elections.
Steenhuisen is said to be fighting for his survival as the head of the charter and the face of the DA’s campaign. While the suggestion by funders for the charter to find a new face is said to have support from one corner of the DA, the party leader and his allies are fighting to ensure he remains.
Steenhuisen was elected as DA leader for a second time in April.
This week it emerged that the DA leadership had been courting top businessman Roger Jardine to join its — and the charter’s — elections machinery.
Jardine, who has the backing of the elite corporate and business tycoons of the country, is said to have been pumped with funding that would otherwise have been directed to the DA and the Multi-Party Charter.
One insider with intimate knowledge of the charter said there had been several meetings with funders to discuss the state of the country and the prospects of the charter.
“Everyone we have spoken to understood that it will be difficult for a white male right now in the country unless obviously, the white male proves in the voting that he got the numbers because then you can’t argue in the voting,” they said.
They added that Steenhuisen had been lobbying for funders to back him as the face of the charter but this did not have the support of some in the DA.
A former DA federal council leader said Steenhuisen was also losing favour with federal council chairperson Helen Zille, who is said to be in support of the party looking for a new face for its campaign.
The insider said there were talks about Western Cape deputy leader and Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis taking over the party, should it lose the elections.
“John and Helen are just cordial at the moment. There is talk that she wants Geordin to come in. They can’t do any of that now, but I suspect that they are going to lay that track, if things don’t work out,” the insider said.
“It’s going to be very hard to tell how that goes for him because John’s also a dirty fighter, but he’s always been a dirty fighter because he’s had enough protection. If he loses that then I don’t know what becomes of him.”
Another insider said that although the federal leadership in the DA was “dictatorial”, its connection with funders was very important to the party’s plans for next year’s elections.
“They are being told by big business that they need to win. The DA is concerned with the coloured vote. What I know is that big business and the DA can’t fight over anything that is not going to happen, so there is something to the argument that John is not palatable to voters.”
The insider and Western Cape party leader said big business was clear that the DA needed to also look at the black voting demographic to boost its electoral numbers.
“The DA in Western Cape has registered about 130 000 voters; we might keep the province but I’m not sure about the rest of the country. The problem is that people are talking about it but the DA has not communicated with its members clearly on this matter.”
They added that although Steenhuisen had been favoured by funders going into the party’s elective conference last year, his approval ratings were lower than expected.
“The problem is John is unliked by white people and people of colour. Funders are a bit more pragmatic and understand the political landscape. They are not willing to go completely on ideology of extreme non-racialism. The funders are at least in a space where they are pragmatic,” they said.
The talks with Jardine took the DA’s partners in the charter — and many in the party ranks — by surprise, and may create their own backlash in weeks and months to come.
One senior DA member from KwaZulu-Natal said they had “no idea” about the initiative and that it would be “very difficult” to sell to the rank and file.
“I don’t think this is going to go down very well with the majority of people in the party. There are questions around John and his style of leadership, but I don’t think bringing in somebody from the outside will be accepted,” they said.
“There hasn’t been any discussion about this so far in our structures about this. Hopefully there will be soon.”
Another senior party activist said the talks with Jardine didn’t necessarily mean he would be a presidential candidate for the party.
“We also spoke to Ian Cameron but nobody is talking about him becoming minister of police,” the activist said.
The DA — and other parties — have brought in outside candidates ahead of elections on several occasions in the past, with disastrous results.
“Parachuting someone in has not been really successful for anyone,’ the party member said.
The Multi-Party Charter this week issued a statement saying there was no discussion about Jardine becoming a presidential candidate.
ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said that although the parties in the moonshot pact might be open to the “appropriate” candidate being brought on board, “Roger Jardine is not that person”.
Steenhuisen and Zille responded with one-word answers to questions from the Mail & Guardian, denying funders had questioned the party’s leaders capability to lead its campaign. Both said their relationship was “good” and “amazing”.