The African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape has added its voice in questioning the resignation of Patricia de Lille as the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape.

ANC spokesperson in the Western Cape Jabu Mafu says De Lille’s decision is indicative of tensions within the DA in the Western Cape.

“We must not forget the fact that the old guard of the DA feels threatened about the influx of blacks within the Democratic Alliance, and that is why Premier Hellen Zille wants to come to the politics of the Western Cape… because initially the DA was built on the basis that it was a white party; now these changes that are taking place within the DA do not augur well with the establishment… of the hard core of the establishment of the DA.”

The Freedom Front Plus says it saw it coming that De Lillle wouldn’t last long in her position.

“It came as a surprise – but not unexpected. It was quite clear at least from my side, that the election of Patricia de Lille was problematic… because I had a question mark with regard to that – because Patricia was never part of the Democratic Alliance right from the beginning; we all remember her from the PAC, and then the ID. I was expecting that in terms of her style, in terms of being autocratic, as far as I am concerned, was going to cause those problems. I think there is big drift up building up somewhere… because she is lining up to become the Premier of the Western Cape in 2019; it is quite clear there is a different strategy, she is now going to be side lined for the next five years,” says Freedom Front Plus leader in the Western Cape Corne Mulder.

The African Christian Democratic Party says it does not believe the reasons given by De Lille for stepping down.

De Lille said she had decided to resign as the DA leader in the Western Cape so that she could focus on local government issues in the Western Cape.

“We do not believe that is her real reason for her resignation as the provincial leader. We believe that the DA has uncovered her desire to, and her ambition to be the Premier of the Western Cape in 2019… and she has been using her ex-ID colleagues to make it in the political leadership, so that she can get to the administration of the city with the intent to become the Premier in 2019 – and that is now sorted, and that is probably the victory for the DA component… that we believe is the reality of the situation,” says ACDP Caucus leader in the City of Cape Town, Grant Haskin.