John Steenhuisen says DA did the right thing to forfeit power in City of Joburg

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen is standing by the position his party took that led to its coalition losing control over the City of Johannesburg.

He said he still believed the DA did the right thing.

In his weekly newsletter, Steenhuisen said his party would always choose its principles and what was in the long-term best interest of South Africans.

Steenhuisen added that voters needed to know that the blue party would stick to its coalition agreements that it believed will become more prevalent in other spheres of government, following the 2024 general election.

Mpho Phalatse was ousted last week after the party’s relationship with the Patriotic Alliance (PA) soured over positions.

Steenhuisen said it had been painful to hand control of Johannesburg to an African National Congress – Economic Freedom Fighters – PA coalition under a mayor from the Al Jama-ah party, which did not even attain 1% of the city’s vote.

But he still believed it was the lesser of two evils.

Steenhuisen said that to have given in to the PA’s demand for the city’s purse strings when it attained less than 3% of the vote would have compromised the DA’s credibility as a party of principle.

He said his party would not go into government at all costs, and would not be part of a corrupt coalition.

Steenhuisen said the DA would rather stand by its principles, even when it was hard to do so, than abandon them for short-term gain.

He and ousted mayor Phalatse will go head-to-head for the party’s leadership position at its national elective conference in April.

-EWN

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