ActionSA’s John Moodey and the DA’s John Steenhuisen
Image sourced via Twitter @Action4SA
John VS John: Former DA leader rips into Steenhuisen in open letter
ActionSA’s John Moodey has told the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) John Steenhuisen to worry about his own party’s affairs
ActionSA’s John Moodey and the DA’s John Steenhuisen
Image sourced via Twitter @Action4SA
The Democratic Alliance’ (DA) former Gauteng leader John Moodey has launched a scathing attack on the party’s John Steenhuisen, in the form of a lengthy open letter. This was spurred by an equally wounding Daily Maverick opinion piece penned by Steenhuisen’s chief of staff, Ryan Smith.
Moodey has taken issue with the piece and has instead taken aim at Steenhuisen, claiming he is its true author.
“…he didn’t write this piece on his own accord. Ryan was about as close to the inner workings of the DA’s Federal Executive as bigfoot was. After many years in politics, you and I both know that a Chief of Staff never has a public voice distinct from that of their political principal,” he said.
Moodey became the latest member to dump the DA in September 2020. He said he did not believe in the current leadership of the party, nor the direction it was taking.
DA chief of staff: Herman Mashaba ‘one of the party’s biggest mistakes’
In the piece, Smith paints Herman Mashaba’s ActionSA, of which Moodey is a part, as being another version of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and also labels the former Johannesburg mayor as the one of DA’s biggest mistakes.
Mashaba and former DA leader Mmusi Maimane quit the DA in 2019 after Helen Zille was elected its Federal Council Chair.
“It is no secret that Herman Mashaba was the DA’s drawcard in Johannesburg in the 2016 local government elections, and yet, nearly four years later this has proven to be one of the party’s biggest mistakes. Parachuting a political lightweight into the mayorship of a city held together by a complex and polarised coalition was mistake number one,” Smith had said.
He also took aim at new newly-launched political party, ironically saying it had similar ideologies as the DA.
In response, Moodey said to an extent, the aforementioned was true and a good thing for those who claim to champion the constitution and a free market economy.
“For what it may be worth, I do not think you should ridicule possible shared values in a political environment in which it is certain that coalitions are the future of South African politics. One would imagine that a leader with an appreciation of this future would celebrate the possibility of common ground when South Africans want the ANC and the EFF collectively under 50% so that the future of our economy and constitutional rights are safeguarded,”
ActionSA’s John Moodey
