Cape Town – The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday dismissed accusations that it was purging black leaders.
This issue was addressed at a briefing after the party’s first-ever policy conference over the weekend.
According to DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille, charging certain party members had nothing to do with their skin colour.
The party has been accused of targeting black leaders ever since Mmusi Maimane resigned from the party in 2019.
Last week, the party’s Gauteng leader John Moodey resigned, saying that he did not agree with the direction that the party was taking.
But Zille dismissed the assertion that black leaders were being targeted.
“We have many black leaders in the DA and when a white person is charged with anything we don’t talk about a purge, an exodus, or anything. We have fair and due process and that applies to everybody,” said Zille.
DA head of policy Gwen Ngwenya has emphasised the party’s economic policy adopted at the weekend. Ngwenya said that the party was willing to lose vote for its stance on economic policy.
“This question about is it worth losing votes for the sake of principle, for example, if it was a policy on the death penalty? Of course it’s absolutely worth losing votes on the basis of principle,” said Ngwenya.
The DA is expected to converge again in October for its federal congress to elect the party’s new leadership.
