The big story of the moment is undoubtedly the resignation of Tony Leon. The press reaction has been mostly negative, with newspapers veering between shocked surprise and nonsensical sky-is-falling predictions about the “end of opposition politics in South Africa”.

This sort of silliness is symptomatic of the immaturity of South African democracy. Due to our inexperience with democratic culture, and the proliferation of useless vanity parties that serve no purpose other than getting their leaders a cushy job in parliament, people tend to perceive parties (especially opposition parties) and their leaders as functionally inseparable; a perception that, in the case of the DA at least, is simply false. As for the “surprising” nature of the announcement, perhaps the most surprising thing is that it took so long. As I wrote back in April, if Leon had been a British Conservative he would have been ushered out of the leadership within weeks of the last elections. (And while the Tory tradition of infighting and backstabbing is not exactly one that should be emulated, the idea that leaders should be accountable for their performance is as much applicable to the opposition as it is to the government.)

Having called for Tony Leon to resign in the past, I’m pleased to see a change of leadership, but not because I dislike either Leon or his politics. Leon was a principled and articulate liberal who was often unfairly maligned. Case in point: a month ago he made headlines when he correctly pointed out that lifting people out of poverty is good for the natural environment as well as for the people themselves. That statement was seized upon and twisted beyond recognition by gormless political opponents such as Marthinus van Schalkwyk, who made it seem as though Leon had dissed poor people. Politics is a dirty game, and I can’t blame Leon for wanting to exit.

Ultimately, Tony Leon will be remembered for building up some semblance of an official opposition party, which – despite its imperfections – has held together during a difficult period in which opposition politics has barely managed to survive. And that’s a good thing. Democracy is like sex: you need at least two parties for it to be successful. (Okay, bad metaphor, but still…)