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The DTA leadership triumphed this week announcing that 124 new members joined the opposition party at the major rally in Talismanus last weekend. Despite this political victory the young DTA members apparently intend to tackle the older leadership this coming Saturday during the annual DTA central committee meeting which will take place in Windhoek. Major reforms within the party structure are to be discussed; amendments to the DTA constitution and nominations for election candidates will top the agenda.

"At Talismanus we welcomed 45 former Swapo members and 75 from the ailing DCN as well as 4 from the CoD," said DTA secretary general MacHenry Venaani on Wednesday during a press briefing. "The most prominent person to join the DTA was Chief Tumbe Tjombe, the most influential leader in the area, but the NBC again did not cover our event," he lashed out at the national broadcaster. Only last week the DTA wrote an open letter to the NBC director general bitterly complaining about lack of coverage for opposition parties. The NBC reporter only arrived on 4 May in the area for a Swapo function in the area, Venaani criticised, but not for the DTA meeting the day before.

"The DTA of Namibia calls on the Media Institute of Southern Africa and other international media watch groups to monitor the biased work of the NBC. Democracy will not survive without fair coverage of all political parties fairly and without favouring any one," the young secretary general told media.

Asked if it was true he was promised a seat in parliament this year by the top party leadership and as a result resigned from a very good position at a leading company, only to find out he was left out in the cold, Mr Venaani said, he was unaware of this.

However, other DTA members told PLUS recently that this was the case. An enquiry at the company revealed that Mr Venaani had indeed resigned a few weeks ago.

With the sudden resignation of Mrs Patricia Siska in November 2002 as an MP and as a DTA member to join Swapo, Mrs Barbara Rattay in the meantime filled the vacancy. It was learnt form a reliable source in the party that Mrs Rattay was to vacate hear seat to make room for Mr Venaani the DTA secretary general, but she is still a member of parliament.

All Mr Venaani was prepared to say was that hear position as an MP would be discussed at the meeting this weekend.

Almost a year ago, the DTA was thrown into a crisis with the sudden resignation of the Mr Nico Smit, the party’s administrative secretary. He publicly accused the DTA MP’s of being lazy and neglecting their party duties, just going on international trips. A close aid to Mr Smit last year told media that he was equally infuriated with car loans provided to DTA leaders from party funds and their reluctance to pay them back and few receipts returned to the administrative office after advance payments for fuel and mileage when travelling to party meetings within the country. Last year’s crisis indicated a rift between the younger and older DTA members. "This weekend will bring clarity," a DTA member told PLUS.