Cape Town-100408. Athol Trollip ,Parliamentary Leader of the DA along with Lindiwe Mazibuko , Deputy Shadow Minister of Communications, discuss the ANC's wasteful expenditure of over a billion rand since July last year, in Parliament today .Picture: Jason Boud.
Lindiwe Mazibuko is the new parliamentary leader of the DA, in a move hailed as the first big step into the future for the opposition party.
With 50 votes to incumbent leader Athol Trollip’s 31, she unseated him on Thursday morning at elections held behind closed doors at Parliament.
A signal that the Durban-raised 31-year-old had won came from the sound of ulululating that followed a burst of applause from behind the shut doors of Room E249 in the National Assembly building.
Mazibuko had been tipped to win after it appeared her campaign over the past month had succeeded in persuading a comfortable majority of the DA’s 83-member caucus – which includes five ID MPs – to back her.
But when caucus members broke for tea and sandwiches while the votes for parliamentary leader were being counted, it was clear that uncertainty still prevailed.
Trollip was first to exit from the room where voting took place. He hugged his chief of staff Jo Cruse, who had been waiting anxiously outside.
Asked to comment, he said: “Congratulations to Lindiwe!”
A delighted DA leader Helen Zille emerged with her arms around Mazibuko.
She told the Daily News: “This is a new era for the DA. We have crossed the first Rubicon.
“This is a big step into the future for the DA. We are on course for (the) 2014 and 2019 (elections).”
Zille said she wanted to pay “deep tribute” to Trollip for his “extraordinary leadership and his exceptional graciousness”.
Mazibuko said she was “humbled and honoured” and “excited about the future”.
She too paid tribute to Trollip.
She was looking forward to continuing in the tradition set by her predecessors in continuing to build the party as an effective opposition, and more particularly, as a government in waiting.
DA Basic Education spokesman, Wilmot James, was elected caucus chairman, defeating Sej Motau, who was on Trollip’s slate.
Voting on other positions was continuing at the time of going to press.
The outgoing leader of the party’s National Council of Provinces delegation, Watty Watson, will become chief whip – a position appointed by the parliamentary leader.
Mazibuko has been described as the visionary, while caucus members on Wednesday described Trollip as a “serious administrator” who has not done a bad job since taking over the reins in 2009.
The 83-member caucus started casting ballots to elect a new parliamentary leader at 11am. The results will be formally announced at a press conference later today.
Mazibuko, 31, was born in Swaziland and raised in Durban.
She attended St Mary’s DSG in Kloof, where she matriculated in 1997.
From there, she studied music at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, but dropped out a year later because she did not find the course challenging enough.
Mazibuko spent a few years travelling through Europe before returning to South Africa to complete her studies, this time at UCT, where she obtained a BA (French, Classics, Media and Writing) in 2006, and a BA Honours in political communication in 2007.
She got involved in politics when she chose DA leader Helen Zille as the subject for her honours dissertation.
Thereafter, she worked as a DA researcher for a year before being appointed the party’s national media officer.
Mazibuko stood for public office in 2008 and was elected to Parliament in 2009, where she served as the DA’s national spokeswoman and shadow deputy minister of communications.
Her constituency is North Durban.
Dianne Kohler Barnard, DA MP and one of the party’s eight whips in Parliament, is supporting Mazibuko.
She said Mazibuko had run a clean campaign and had a “brilliant vision” for the future of the parliamentary caucus.
“Lindiwe is a visionary, she sees the overall picture, while Athol is a fine administrator.”
Trollip, a provincial DA leader, was born in Bedford in the Eastern Cape.
He was deputy head boy and captained the rugby, swimming, water polo and surf livesaving 1st teams at high school.
Trollip farmed for 20 years, was chairman of the farmers association in the Eastern Cape, chaired the Bedford Club, was a committee member of various sporting associations, an executive member of the Eastern Province Agricultural Union and the “Smaldeel” soil conservation committee.
He was elected a councillor in the Amathole district municipality in 1995. Four years later, in 1999, he was elected to the legislature and re-elected in 2004. Trollip served as leader of the DA caucus and leader of the official opposition in the Eastern Cape before his election to Parliament in 2009.
Within the party, he held various positions including Democratic Party (DP) chairman in 1998 and DA provincial leader since 2002.
Trollip served on the Federal Council and federal executive since 1998. His grandfather was an MP for the United Party and his father a divisional councillor.
He is fluent in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. He has served as the party’s parliamentary leader since 2009.
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