The partnership between the DA and other opposition parties took strain this week when Mmusi Maimane stunned his partners with a motion to dissolve parliament.
High-ranking leaders of the EFF, the United Democratic Movement and IFP said the DA's proposal for parliament to be dissolved was "amateurish" and could spark disunity among the opposition, which up to now had made life difficult for the ANC.
The opposition politicians, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their working relations with the DA, said the tension was not severe enough to break the co-operation arrangement at any level.But they slammed the DA for not consulting them before tabling the motion, arguing that it was sprung upon them in an underhanded and arrogant fashion.
They also said this could undermine their momentum against the ANC and the trust built while dealing with the motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma.
"Through its amateur behaviour, the DA succeeds time after time to bring opposition co-operation to the brink of collapse. Heaven knows why," said an EFF source.
In its official comment, the EFF said it would not entertain the DA motion and advised the DA to have its 89 MPs resign from parliament so that the number of MPs in the National Assembly would dip below 350 and necessitate an early election.
Quorum conundrum
The EFF based this on section 46 of the constitution, which states that the National Assembly can never have fewer than 350 members. But University of Cape Town constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos said the quorum and thresholds remained the same despite vacancies: 400. Other legal experts agreed with De Vos...