Leon tries a pigment shift
The DA has been criticisms by many, myself included, for not dropping Leon in favour of a black leader. Tony is undoubtedly aware of this, and has recently been attempting to distance himself from 'white' opposition in favour of 'black' opposition. Case in point is his speech on Tuesday commemorating the public service and parliamentary career of Helen Suzman.

Tiger Tony chastised traditional English-speaking universities and NGO's for their lack of government criticism, and heralded 'black intellectuals' as being the boldest and most effective critics of government. As Tony himself is probably the biggest critic of government, he is by implication trying to align himself to the 'black intellectuals' as opposed to the 'English-speaking' sects.

If this is indeed a new subtle strategy, I am not convinced of its efficiency. Leon has simply made himself too polarizing a leader to be wished away with PR spin.