Mmusi Maimane has officially resigned from the DA and as a member of Parliament.
Johannesburg – Mmusi Maimane has officially resigned from the DA and as a member of Parliament.
Maimane made the announcement on Thursday morning in a tweet.
This followed his decision to step down as leader of the DA on Wednesday.
The DA FedEx held an urgent meeting on Wednesday at the party’s head office in Joburg.
“And in the end we have come to the conclusion that despite my best efforts, the DA is not the vehicle best suited to take forward the vision of building One South Africa for All. It is with great sadness that in order to continue the fight for this vision I so strongly believe in, and the country I so dearly love, I today tender my resignation as leader of the Democratic Alliance. I will continue in the role as parliamentary leader until the end of the year, after which the party will go to Congress to elect new leadership,” Maimane said.
Maimane was elected as leader of the party in May 2015 taking over from Helen Zille. He has faced tough criticism over his handling of a variety of challenges that have gripped the party. He was criticized for not being decisive enough in handling Zille’s colonialism tweets matter.
However, the party’s poor performance and loss of support at this year’s general elections fuelled speculation about his future in the party.
His departure follows the resignation of Joburg Mayor Herman Mashaba on Monday. Mashaba resigned following Helen Zille’s election as the chairperson of the DA federal council.
Federal council chairperson Helen Zille said on Wednesday the FedEx’s discussions were dominated by Maimane and Trollip’s decisions.
The party is also taking legal advice on the matter, Zille said. She said the party would have hoped for both Maimane and Trollip to stay on until a special congress was held in April.
