The USA, Maimane and the DA: How Mmusi Maimane’s plan to change the DA fell apart

In a report, seen by the Mail & Guardian, which was commissioned in 2021 — just months after Maimane resigned from the party over its poor performance in the 2019 national and provincial elections — the federal legal council found that there was a small clique of individuals who ran the party’s communication machinery with an iron fist. 

The report details how Maimane, along with then DA chief executive Paul Boughey and campaign manager Jonathan Moakes, solicited the advice of an American consultant linked to the US Democratic Party to usher in a new era for the DA which would see Maimane taking charge. 

According to evidence gathered in the report, Maimane and the two former party leaders — now dubbed the NMB trio — went to great lengths to weaken Helen Zille and Tony Leon’s perceived influence in the party.