Mbali Ntuli to Mzwanele Manyi: 'I do what I like. You don't speak for blacks anywhere'

Mbali Ntuli has told African Transformation Movement (ATM) founder Mzwanele Manyi that she will not quit her goal of running for the DA's top job.

“Hey Jimmy, I've never done a thing I didn't want to do in my life. I do what I like. You don't speak for blacks anywhere.”

This was her scathing response to Manyi, after he said Ntuli must “quit now” as she's “missing” a few qualities, including her candidacy not fuelling competition between her and the DA's interim leader, John Steenhuisen. Instead, it was “legitimising” him, he said.

Manyi also implied that she might not receive enough support from black party members as they were not “black conscious” enough to vote for her, or "worshipped whiteness".

Manyi was responding to a story which reported Ntuli as saying she wouldn't handle President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC “with kid gloves” should she become DA leader.

At a press conference on Friday to launch her campaign, Ntuli said the DA needed to lead with kindness, fairness and strength.