Infighting dogs S African opposition as poll nears

Bloomberg

South Africa’s main opposition party has been its own worst enemy as it attempts to unseat the African National Congress.
The Democratic Alliance has botched attempts to fire Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille, igniting infighting and irking supporters ahead of next year’s elections, while an agreement that sees it run other major cities risks unraveling. With the ANC on a high after Cyril Ramaphosa replaced unpopular president Jacob Zuma, the DA’s goal of winning 30 percent support and the opposition pushing the ruling party below 50 percent looks implausible.
“The DA really did not deal with Patricia de Lille very well at all,” Zwelethu Jolobe, a politics lecturer at the University of Cape Town, said.
“The mud-slinging has come at a particularly bad time and no one knows who is right or wrong. Ramaphosa has moved fast to capture ground from the opposition parties, who had a clear target when Zuma was president.” De Lille, 67, has served as mayor of DA-governed Cape Town since 2011 and has a loyal following in the city, the country’s main tourist attraction.