The Democratic Alliance (DA) announced the final list of candidates nominated to stand for election at the elective conference in April. Helen Zille, John Steenhuisen and Mpho Phalatse made the list as expected. The most eye-catching detail is that one of the candidates is nominated in every category.
Who is Lungile Phenyane, and why is her nomination for every leadership role in the DA raising eyebrows?
Lungile Phenyane is nominated for Federal Leader, Federal Chairperson, Deputy Federal Chairperson, Chairperson of Federal Council, Deputy Chairperson of Federal Council and Federal Finance Chairperson.
At the time of writing, the little-known DA member was mentioned just once on the DA’s website – in the statement announcing the nominees for the elective conference. The same could be said for the party’s social media accounts. Other internet searches also yielded no results.
According to an EWN report, Phenyane, 35, is from the capital, Tshwane. She told the publication her main aim is to represent youth and women and show they are capable of moving South Africa forward.
On Twitter, political journalist Matshidiso Madia wrote that she made enquiries about Phenyane and “no one knows her.”
Former DA members express skepticism over Phenyane’s candidacy and potential impact on the party’s leadership election
Former DA Member of Parliament Phumzile van Damme, who resigned from the party in 2021, also indicated that she doesn’t know the candidate with a GIF of Mariah Carey saying, “I don’t know her.”
Former DA MPL in KwaZulu-Natal, Mbali Ntuli, also weighed in on the matter. Mbali who quit the DA in 2022, said, “the real question that should be asked is who nominated and seconded Lungile Pheyane. I’d bet that would be interesting, then I’m sure we could deduce the rest…”
In an earlier tweet, Ntuli explained the DA’s two voting methods. The party uses two methods – First Past the Post (FPTP) for two candidates and the Single transferable vote (STV) method if there are more than two candidates.
With the FPTP method, the person with the most votes wins. At the same time, with STV, each voter casts a single vote and ranks the candidates according to preference – the vote goes to the preferred candidate. Still, if that candidate is eliminated, it goes to the second-preferred candidate and so on.
“Now I’ve never heard of [Lungile Phenyane] [and] I wish them luck. If I was cynical however I would think that strategically [Lungile Phenyane] is in some positions to split votes…” said Ntuli.
Van Damme also touched on whether Phenyane was introduced as a candidate to split votes. She said, “Not to be rude about Phenyane, but a vote split would require a heavyweight. Someone who could be a legitimate contender to John. That could’ve split the vote three ways, and it would have been a real contest. Right now, I see an overwhelming victory for John.”
“Phenyane doesn’t seem to be a person strategically placed to split the vote. Akekho serious (No one is serious). I could be wrong, but that’s what I see,” added Van Damme.
The DA elective Federal Congress is set to be held on 1 and 2 April.
The candidates are as follows:
Federal Finance Chairperson
Dion George
Lungile Phenyane
Deputy Chairpersons of Federal Council [3]
Annelie Lotriet
Ashor Sarupen
James Masango
Lungile Phenyane
Segope Sathekge
Thomas Walters
Tyrone Gray
Chairperson of Federal Council:
Helen Zille
Lungile Phenyane
Deputy Federal Chairpersons [3]:
Anton Bredell
Jean-Pierre (JP) Smith
Lungile Phenyane
Natasha Mazzone
Nqaba Bhanga
Refiloe Nt’sekhe
Shehana Kajee
Solly Malatsi
Federal Chairperson:
Ivan Meyer
Lungile Phenyane
Qhawekazi Mbatha
Federal Leader:
John Steenhuisen
Lungile Phenyane
Mpho Phalatse
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