DTA ‘only viable alternative’

THE DTA of Namibia claims white people are ‘closing ranks’ and rejoining the party as it is the ‘only viable alternative’ to the ruling Swapo Party.

DTA Chairman Johan de Waal on Monday issued a statement on behalf of former Republican Party member Daan Holtzhausen, saying Holtzhausen had rejoined the alliance under a new group called Action for Democratic Change.The Action for Democratic Change is not a registered political party but a group which participates in elections through the DTA.Holtzhausen resigned as National Chairman of the RP last month but remained as a member for a few weeks.He has now resigned after holding ‘informal discussions with many friends and colleagues’ about the future of the RP.’I have come to the conclusion that the Republican Party is no longer in a position to play any meaningful role in the politics of our country,’ he said.Holtzhausen was part of a group of RP leaders who walked out of a RP executive meeting a few weeks ago as a protest against the leadership style of Henk Mudge.Others included former Hardap Regional Governor Pieter Boltman, who has also rejoined the DTA, De Lange Kotze, who was Chairman of the RP branch at Aranos, and Pieter Visser, who represented the RP on the Keetmanshoop Town Council.Holtzhausen said he rejoined DTA because other smaller parties cannot effect change in the future of Namibia.’They only contribute to the fragmentation of the votes of the opposition and voting for them boils down to wasting one’s vote,’ he said.Ironically, the same Executive Committee endorsed a decision four years ago to sack Carola Engelbrecht as the party’s Secretary General after she refused to agree to ‘unconditionally and in the interest of the Party support, trust and protect the President of the Republican Party (Mudge)’.Engelbrecht was known to work independently and was not keen to ‘blindly follow’ instructions from Mudge, while she was also not happy with his leadership style.