John Steenhuisen has announced that his term as chief whip has ended along with former leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Mmusi Maimane. According to Steenhuisen, the term of the leader and chief whip are tied.
“The chief whip is appointed by the leader. Since he announced his resignation from Parliament, my term ends,” Steenhuisen said to EWN.
Yesterday, Maimane announced that he is stepping down from his role as the leader of the DA, and has today resigned as a Member of Parliament (MP) as well.
During a press conference in Bruma, Johannesburg, Maimane said his main objective was to free the country from the rule of the African National Congress (ANC), and this led him down the path of working in politics, despite him not having the intention of becoming a politician.
“Despite my best efforts, perhaps the DA is not the best vehicle which is suited to take forward the vision of building one South Africa,” he said.
According to Maimane, his vision for the DA was to transform it into an inclusive party for all politicians, and believes he has changed the party into one that relates to South Africans from all walks of life.
He added that the DA could “never be a party about one race” and that diversity has always been in the party ethos. Maimane also maintains that he has always advocated for more black people to join the party – black women in particular – so that the party is more diverse and can understand the country’s problems from a more objective point of view.
“We’ve made some tough decisions. We’ve fought many battles,” he said.
Maimane also touched on his differences with former DA leader and new Federal Executive Chairperson Helen Zille, saying they will continue to remain respectful of one another.
“I maintain her comments about colonialism certainly did not help the party,” he said.
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