Alpha Ramushwana3 June 2024 | 4:46

DA claims Steenhuisen deliberately left out of DA’s coalition negotiation team

On Sunday, the party announced a team comprising Helen Zille, Tony Leon, Ivan Meyer, and Allan Winde, which has been tasked with negotiating coalition arrangements.

DA claims Steenhuisen deliberately left out of DA’s coalition negotiation team

Party leader John Steenhuisen at the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) KwaZulu-Natal Rescue South Africa tour campaign at the Curries Fountain Stadium in Durban on 11 May 2024. Picture: X/Our_DA

JOHANNESBURG - Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has been left out of the party’s coalition negotiations team, which will be holding talks with various political organisations.

On Sunday, the party announced a team comprising Helen Zille, Tony Leon, Ivan Meyer and Allan Winde, which has been tasked with negotiating coalition arrangements.

ALSO READ: Elections 2024: Coalition cloud hangs over South Africa ahead of results

South Africa is set to be led by a coalition government after the African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority in the National Assembly.

Speaking to Eyewitness News at the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC)’s national Results Operation Centre (ROC) on Sunday, the DA’s Siviwe Gwarube claimed that Steenhuisen was left out deliberately.

"There is a rule in our political party that a leader does not negotiate a deal that would implicate him in any way, and that’s why he’s delegated this to the federal executive. The federal executive made the decision today [Sunday] to appoint a panel of people who are experienced, who can essentially start to also look at how best we can put the interests of South Africans first."