Another long-standing DA member tenders resignation
The DA's Member of Parliament Ghaleb Cachalia resigned from the official opposition.
In November, Cachalia was removed from his position as the party's Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises over his comments on the Israel-Hamas war.
He had written a tweet in which he accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians.
The DA said he had aired his personal views over the party's stance.
At the time, this is what Cachalia said: “I will always continue to keep a watchful eye on human rights abuses here and globally and will always speak truth to power."
In his resignation letter, Cachalia claimed that the leadership of the DA has become increasingly uncomfortable with his public views on the war.
He's also accused the party of wooing organisations like the Afrikanerbond to endorse the multi-party charter.
He adds that this worryingly moves away from the centre of the political spectrum.
The party's Solly Malatsi says Cachalia's disrespect for party processes, for his colleagues and for the diversity of views in the DA has mounted over time.
"Mr Cachalia seemingly wanted to be an exception, and there is no organisation in the world, particularly in politics, that has created internal processes and platforms that would allow their members to contradict the party disposition publicly."
"It is equally also important to clarify that, and the party's position on the Middle East remains that we are in support of a two-state solution, contrary to what Mr Cachalia has said."
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