First black leader of S Africa's main opposition party quits

The head of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), Mmusi Maimane, announced his resignation on Wednesday, in the latest in a string of blows to the party.

"It is with great sadness that in order to continue this fight for the vision I strongly believe and the country I so dearly love, I will today step down as leader of the DA," Maimane, the party's first black leader, told journalists in Johannesburg.

In 2015, Maimane, then aged just 35, became the first black leader of the DA, a party long viewed as the party for middle-class whites.

Raised in Soweto -- the heartland of the anti-apartheid struggle -- Maimane had only joined the DA in 2009 and was fast-tracked through its ranks.

His rapid promotion led to accusations that he was being used by the party's senior white activists to cover up a lack of reform within the party.

On Wednesday, he said his leadership had suffered several months of "coordinated attacks".

The DA, he added, was perhaps "not the best vehicle which is suited to take forward the vision of building one South Africa."
Zille had vowed not to meddle in Maimane's leadership but political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi said the vote for Zille suggested "a proxy against Maimane."