Former DA leader Mmusi Maimane Share This: The former DA leader says he has nothing to do with dissent against Mmusi Maimane, that's what Helen Zille was responsible for. Former Democratic Alliance (DA) Tony Leon has come under fire for saying in a Newzroom Afrika interview that Mmusi Maimane, who was at the helm of the party from 10 May 2015 to 23 October 2019, was âan experiment gone wrongâ. Leon is on the line to comment on the matter. There is an extreme sense of outrage. The _Sowetan _has suggested on the 22nd of October 2019 that the Maimane experiment has now collapsed. Your own sister station, CapeTalk, said on the 2nd of July 2020 that it's the end of the DA's black leader experiment.