#DACongress2018: Race won't lead to party split, says analyst

Johannesburg - Despite calls from its black activists, including party leader Mmusi Maimane, for more representation within the party's ranks, political analyst Susan Booysen says this wouldn't lead to an “implosion” of the DA.

The party's two-day federal congress takes place at the Tshwane Events Centre amid heightened tensions over representivity, and participation of its black members in the party's decision-making bodies.

Booysen said the internal racial quotas debate within the DA was nothing new - it had been there for over a decade.

Tension has now reached boiling point as many black members in the DA have escalated their battle and want their party's constitution to be amended to include a diversity clause. Ahead of the congress black DA members said although the party's black membership has swelled, senior positions were almost exclusively held by whites. Now, these aggrieved members, who include the DA's KwaZulu-Natal provincial leader Zwakele Mncwango; Gauteng MPL Makashule Gana and the DA’s Joburg regional chairman Khume Ramulifho want the federal conference to endorse their view.

Political Bureau