OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday
A MASSIVE split is looming within the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) after revelations of a plan by the partys former Democratic Party caucus to sideline DA deputy and former New National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk.
The letter, by top party strategist Ryan Coetzee to DA leader Tony Leon, contains a plan to sideline Van Schalkwyk. In the letter Coetzee predicts that Van Schalkwyk would “pale into insignificance”.
“The best way to treat him [Van Schalkwyk] is to forget about him. If you focus yourself outwards you will overshadow him completely,” Coetzee wrote in the letter dated August 1, one month after a merger between the DP and the NNP to form the Democratic Alliance.
The letter was stored on Coetzee’s laptop, which was stolen in February.
Coetzee confirmed that the letter was written by him, but blamed political opponents of targeting him and the DA in a “dirty tricks campaign designed to damage the party” and undermine his position.
He said the letter was a strategic analysis and recommendation to Leon about how he should see his role as opposition leader.
Coetzee told The Star newspaper that he had written the letter during a “hugely emotional” time when two parties who had a long history of antagonism were brought together. He denied that there was any plan to oust Van Schalkwyk.
In the letter Coetzee is also critical of the Western Cape government, saying that they “have absolutely no idea” how to communicate. “The fact that we are governing the province is simultaneously a threat and an opportunity. If we fail here, our promises will remain empty,” he writes.
Coetzee said he believed that the ANC was behind a campaign to bring about a split in the DA.
According to a report in Sunday’s Rapport, Van Schalkwyk and Western Cape premier Gerald Morkel were both present at the NNP council meeting on Saturday when the “Marthinus plan” was discussed. Van Schalkwyk reportedly told the meeting that they should not over-react and that he would discuss the matter with the DP leadership.
Last year’s merger between the DP and the NNP to form the Democratic Alliance has been attributed mainly to Coetzee’s strategic planning. While the party has succeeded in making inroads in more conservative circles there has been reluctance among some senior members of both parties to accept the merger.