The DA’s congress, held over the weekend, made it clear that the party is not interested in governing. It cannot hope to do so given the outcome of its elective conference. It firmly entrenched itself as a party for minorities — a reset of sorts, as it moved to re-establish lost ties with its base.
It elected a largely white, male leadership core, building on its policy decision to discount race as a factor or a proxy for disadvantage. The outcome was unsurprising given the tone of the report on what went wrong for the party in the 2019 election, when the DA lost support for the first time since 1994.
"The party’s relentless focus on winning more support from black voters is understandable given the frustrations of [its] failure to do so over many years. But taking existing voters for granted is always a mistake. It is striking that over a period of many years, the DA failed to heed a number of warnings that it was alienating sections of the white Afrikaans electorate," the report says. It recommends that the party "take urgent steps to re-engage disillusioned Afrikaans voters in an effort to win back their trust … on the basis of the DA’s values and vision of an open opportunity society for all."
This is exactly what it did.
It abandoned its multiracial project and is moving to win back its base. In other words, a focus on race is acceptable when it comes to winning back white Afrikaners. Among the first acts by the reset DA was a decision to have farm murders declared a hate crime.
No matter, the constitution guarantees the DA’s right to assert itself.
But what does this mean for opposition politics in SA? The DA’s retreat from true representivity is most definitely a setback, though it does not see it that way. Its assessment report about the 2019 polls says: "In the end, if the DA is to grow, it has to grow on the basis of its core values. To attempt otherwise is to risk either hollow success, where growth is achieved at the price of principle and impact, or outright failure, where limited growth among black voters is outweighed by the loss of support among minorities."
But there may also be a method to the obvious madness: newly elected federal council chair Helen Zille’s campaign message centred on coalitions.
In effect, the party wants to position itself as a partner of choice via coalitions or a potential ANC split
"Coalitions will require skilled management after 2021," read her campaign flyers for the post.
Also, Zille has been a persistent proponent of the "realignment" of SA politics, and her re-election spells a renewed emphasis on this for the DA. Ahead of the 2019 election, she wrote: "The best hope for the future of constitutionalism in SA is a stronger DA. This will enable us to form a magnet for a political realignment that draws together constitutionalists in all parties, and across all barriers, to build a new majority."
In effect, the DA is attempting to position itself as a partner of choice, whether it be via coalitions or through a potential ANC split where liberals and constitutionalists in the party’s broad church seeking a political home are able to find one in the DA.
This is clearly a long shot, and the November 11 round of by-elections will be a slight first taste of the success or failure of the DA reset.
The upcoming local elections and the 2024 national poll will provide a true indication of whether Zille’s project will result in gains or in a path for the DA previously travelled by the now defunct New National Party.
As for SA, the real solution to the current political doldrums may just be in a process of electoral reform, sparked by a Constitutional Court judgment earlier this year to allow independent candidates to contest elections. It reopens the debate on electoral reform and provides a glimmer of hope.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.