Jaspreet Kindra
The New National Party’s fears of being outmanoeuvred by the Democratic Party in the Democratic Alliance were raised by NNP leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk in the party’s provincial structures as early as March this year.
This emerges from the minutes of a meeting of the NNP provincial executive committee in the Northern Province held on March 26, where Van Schalkwyk told members: “We must see to it that we are not outmanoeuvred in the DA; as NNP we must be united against the DP in DA.”
According to the minutes, Van Schalkwyk also told members he was “very disturbed” to learn “that we still have a co-leadership” in the Northern Province.
“We took a national decision on this and that should be the case. There is no alternative. We are entitled to take the leadership in this province.” He was referring to the decision taken by the national leadership before the formation of the DA that the provincial leadership would go to the alliance partner who had garnered more votes in the 1999 general elections.
Van Schalkwyk is also quoted as saying: “The NNP has got assets and money in the bank, but the DP has not got this. We must keep it like this. Our assets must be managed properly and not squandered.” However, there are no indications in the minutes that Van Schalkwyk was considering withdrawing from from the alliance. He emphasised that the DA’s support was growing, and that DA membership in Mitchell’s Plain had risen from 59% to 80% in by-elections held in February.
The minutes were sent to the Mail & Guardian by the DA chairperson in the province Lehlaga Mphahlele, a DP member who says: “It is time the truth came out.”
Mphahlele says the minutes indicate Van Schalkwyk was rallying support against the DP over a considerable period. Mphahlele, who has been in possession of the minutes for some months, says he did not bring them immediately to the attention of the DA’s national leadership, as “I did not want to stoke fires”.
“Van Schalkwyk was clearly being very divisive. Relations between the two parties have soured since then. “
Confusion also reigns in DA circles outside the Northern and Western Cape. NNP leader in the Eastern Cape legislature, Anne Nash, says: “An inch ahead is darkness.” No pressure was being applied on her councillors in her province to express support either way, but the NNP would be willing to take the back seat with the African National Congress driving, rather than being a “spare wheel in the DP’s boot”.
James Selfe, who chairs the DA’s national management committee, says the alliance had received the support of 113 caucuses across the country.
However, NNP leaders point out that DA councillors can be expected to endorse the DA while the anti-defection clause is still in force. Says KwaZulu-Natal NNP leader Tino Volker: “If they speak out, they will be out of jobs.”
It is widely believed in NNP circles that councillors of colour, perceived as unhappy with Leon’s leadership style, will choose to leave the DA if they can keep their jobs. Some black DP leaders endorsed that view.
There are indications that the DA could lose two Eastern Cape municipalities Kouga and Baviaans to the ANC. DA sources in the province say the municipalities are traditional NNP strongholds, but that DA control has been under threat for some time because of the possible defection of its black councillors to the ANC.
But floor-crossing legislation could work in unexpected ways. Sources in the Durban Unicity said there was a possibility of five NNP councillors defecting to the Inkatha Freedom Party. There are also signs that NNP councillors in top positions in the municipal structures will choose to remain with the DA.
The DA and IFP jointly control seven municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal. Volker says cooperation between the parties will continue even if the DA councillors go their separate ways. This was confirmed by IFP national spokesperson Musa Zondi.
A sign of the confusion was the contradictory accounts of NNP and DA leaders in Mpumalanga. The NNP’s Chris MacPherson feels that at least two-thirds of the 105 DA councillors in the province “will go across to the new South Africa” meaning his party. DA leader and DP member Clive Hatch says most councillors have chosen to remain in the DA.
The divorce has degenerated into a series of acrimonious tussles over office premises. In the Northern Province, DP deputy leader Michael Holford claimed the NNP had “chucked” his party’s representatives on to the street.