The DA's federal executive held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss, among other things, the resignation of former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba on Monday and the future of the City of Johannesburg.

Maimane also called a media conference, which was due to be held at 13:00. A subsequent media alert, sent two hours later, pushed the scheduled briefing back by two hours to 15:00. It was again postponed to 16:30.

Political analyst Ralph Mathekga told Jacaranda FM there is a strong possibility that more senior members could leave the Democratic Alliance (DA) after Maimane's resignation.

Before Wednesday afternoon's media briefing, Maimane was last seen in public next to outgoing Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba when he announced his resignation from the party on Monday.

This came a day after Helen Zille was elected as chair of the party's federal council. 

The DA’s federal executive met behind closed doors on Wednesday to map the way forward for the embattled official opposition. A review panel -  which looked at the DA’s poor performance at the polls earlier this year – reportedly found that the party is suffering from poor leadership under Maimane.

Mathekga says Maimane's resignation could spell disaster for the party.

"If too many leaders leave at the same time you are outright risking them getting together and forming a new party and forming an alternative to the DA.

"You really want to make sure that others do not follow suit. You want to try and arrest the situation to make sure that at least people can restrain themselves and not make any abrupt decision.

"If Mmusi resigns the DA might plunge deeper into crisis"

OFM News