At a media briefing held at Parliament yesterday, DA Leader Helen Zille introduced Balindlela as the newest member of the party. “Balindlela resigned her COPE membership and her seat in the National Assembly. In a moment she will sign a DA membership form and receive her membership card from DA Eastern Cape Provincial Leader, Athol Trollip,” said Zille.
Zille explained that with Balindlela joining the ranks of the DA, it was another step in the realignment of politics in South Africa. “Good people from across the spectrum are starting to converge around a vision and a plan for our country. We invite others like Balindlela who may be inspired by her courage and vision today to join us in building a new majority,” added Zille.
While the DA described Balindlela as been a former ANC NEC member, the spokesperson for the ANC, Jackson Mthembu said in a statement on Tuesday, that they were dismayed at the claim made by the Democratic Alliance and Balindlela that she was an NEC member of the ANC.
“She was forced out of her position as the Premier in 2008 right around the same time Mbeki was forced out of the presidency and then she resigned after that from the ANC and joined COPE”
“Balindlela has never been an NEC member of the ANC. In terms of party leadership, the furthest that she rose in leadership terms was being a regional chairperson of the ANC and the PEC of ANCWL in the Eastern Cape, and sat in the PEC as an Ex-officio member by virtue of being the Premier of the Eastern Cape. Secondly, Nosimo has never been a member of the ANC since 2008 when she joined the Congress of the People (COPE)”, said Mthembu.
He added that it was misleading to associate Balindlela with the ANC as she was a COPE member before joining the DA. According to Mthembu, this was ‘typical of the DA to use cheap propaganda to create hype over nothing’.
Poor Track Record
“It is a known factor that Balindlela was the least effective Premier in the Eastern Cape hence she was recalled. If there is anything that the DA has netted is a political liability that will further alienate the party in the Eastern Cape,” added Mthembu.
According to political analyst Professor Amanda Gouws, even though Balindlela does not have a good track record as the Premier of the Eastern Cape, it is important to take into consideration the circumstances around her being forced out of office in 2008.
“She was forced out of her position as the Premier in 2008 right around the same time Mbeki was forced out of the presidency and then she resigned after that from the ANC and joined COPE,” explained Gouws.
She adds that even though Balindlela does have a good track record when it comes to service delivery in the Eastern Cape, there has never been any issues around corruption. “I don’t think that she can be seen as one of the stalwarts of the ANC. There have never been issues around corruption with Balindlela the issues were more about her service delivery,” said Gouws.
African Vote
When asked if the acceptance of Balindlela as a member of the DA was merely window dressing, Gouws said it was too early to tell. But added that the official opposition is trying to get the African vote, which was part of the reason why DA Parliamentary leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko was appointed.
“The issue of getting the African vote in the Eastern Cape is a serious one and the DA has been trying to address that with the appointment of Lindiwe Mazibuko. However she is seen as only been attractive to the middle class,” explained Gouws.
In the last general election only four opposition parties managed to get just over 2% of the vote, while the rest got just under 1%. Gouws said that this is probably part of the decision by Badlindlela to join the DA.
“The only party that can make a difference is the DA, so in that sense it is a matter of individuals doing cost benefit analysis and looking at where they will be better off and where they can make a better contribution and if they are able to join the DA, then it is to the benefit of the DA,” said Gouws.
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