The task of being the second most powerful leader in the Democratic Alliance, and replacing leaders of the stature of Helen Zille and Tony Leon are both daunting prospects, says newly elected DA federal chair Athol Trollip.
Trollip, who is also the mayoral candidate for Nelson Mandela Bay metro, said this week during an interview with the Dispatch.
He said the two former leaders of the DA had left their positions having contributed immensely to the growth of the party.
“We’ve had two very significant leaders in succession in this party. We are very lucky that we are following in that legacy but it is also an unbelievably daunting because to live up to that example is scary,” Trollip said.
He also revealed the DA’s national strategic plan leading to the 2016 local government elections. He said securing the Nelson Mandela metro was not just a provincial target but an objective of the party’s national office.
“The metro is a national target and my being the mayoral candidate does not mean I will avoid my national duties. It is actually a national strategic objective to win that metro, and being the federal chair reinforces the importance of that.”
He said delivering the Nelson Mandela Bay metro to the DA was his first objective as the federal chair.
He also urged his provincial colleagues in the DA leadership to be ready to take his provincial leader position if the DA wins the metro.
“We will have to hold a congress in the Eastern Cape to elect a successor. I believe that there are many people in the province to fill that position.
“I have already told my colleagues on the provincial level, they will have to get ready to start filling in for me when I am doing national duty and that is the process where we will assess who is doing best,” he said.
“I am very confident that by the end of next year we will have a new leader in the province, because I'm confident that we are going to win the metro.”
There have been allegations that before the DA’s provincial congress last year, Trollip
recommended that current provincial chairwoman Veliswa Mvenya should not stand for the position.
But, of his relationship with Mvenya, Trollip said: “She came to this party through me, I have been her mentor for a number of years and I am thrilled that she is now the provincial chair.
“We are like political father and daughter, I have much respect for her because she was able to grow the DA in an impossibly difficult area. In fact the Eastern Cape province has the most united leadership,” Trollip said. — siphem@dispatch.co.za
They are big shoes to fill, says DA’s second most powerful
Trollip, who is also the mayoral candidate for Nelson Mandela Bay metro, said this week during an interview with the Dispatch.
He said the two former leaders of the DA had left their positions having contributed immensely to the growth of the party.
“We’ve had two very significant leaders in succession in this party. We are very lucky that we are following in that legacy but it is also an unbelievably daunting because to live up to that example is scary,” Trollip said.
He also revealed the DA’s national strategic plan leading to the 2016 local government elections. He said securing the Nelson Mandela metro was not just a provincial target but an objective of the party’s national office.
“The metro is a national target and my being the mayoral candidate does not mean I will avoid my national duties. It is actually a national strategic objective to win that metro, and being the federal chair reinforces the importance of that.”
He said delivering the Nelson Mandela Bay metro to the DA was his first objective as the federal chair.
He also urged his provincial colleagues in the DA leadership to be ready to take his provincial leader position if the DA wins the metro.
“We will have to hold a congress in the Eastern Cape to elect a successor. I believe that there are many people in the province to fill that position.
“I have already told my colleagues on the provincial level, they will have to get ready to start filling in for me when I am doing national duty and that is the process where we will assess who is doing best,” he said.
“I am very confident that by the end of next year we will have a new leader in the province, because I'm confident that we are going to win the metro.”
There have been allegations that before the DA’s provincial congress last year, Trollip
recommended that current provincial chairwoman Veliswa Mvenya should not stand for the position.
But, of his relationship with Mvenya, Trollip said: “She came to this party through me, I have been her mentor for a number of years and I am thrilled that she is now the provincial chair.
“We are like political father and daughter, I have much respect for her because she was able to grow the DA in an impossibly difficult area. In fact the Eastern Cape province has the most united leadership,” Trollip said. — siphem@dispatch.co.za
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