Phuti Mosomane
DA leader John Steenhuisen announced on Sunday that former party leaders Tony Leon and Helen Zille will lead “exploratory talks with other political parties” to negotiate the making of a new government.
Steenhuisen’s address came as the IEC announced the official election results late on Sunday showing that the party had gained a slight increase in the National Assembly from 84 seats to 87.
While the ANC has lost its majority (230) and may have to shed more than 70 MPs to accommodate the rest in their 159 seats, the new kids on the block, the MK party has secured 58 seats while the EFF’s seats have decreased from 44 to 39.
Steenhuisen said the DA’s Federal Executive has unanimously adopted a resolution to initiate exploratory talks with other political parties that share a commitment to the South African Constitution, to identify options for the formation of governments at national and provincial level where no party has obtained an outright majority.
“To facilitate this process, the Federal Executive has appointed a negotiating team composed of Helen Zille, Ivan Meyer, Siviwe Gwarube, Alan Winde, Tony Leon and Ryan Coetzee to facilitate the engagement with other parties.
“The purpose of these initial talks is to gather information on the options that are available to the DA as we seek to rescue South Africa from Doomsday coalitions,” he said, adding that the talented and experienced team will report back and the party will decide on the way forward.
Steenhuisen said the DA will always act in the interests of the people throughout this “unprecedented moment in our country’s history.”
On what the qualities will the party look into to choose a partner or partners, Steenhuisen said the party will be guided by the DA’s fundamental commitment to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law, promoting non racialism, effecting clean, accountable government with zero tolerance for corruption, and building a social market economy that creates jobs.
The DA, which retained its position as the official opposition at 21.80% of total votes cast, said it will engage with other parties rooted in the seven apex priorities outlined in their manifesto.
These include to create two million new jobs, end loadshedding and water shedding, halve the rate of violent crime, abolish cadre deployment, lift six million people out of poverty, triple the number of grade four learners who can read for meaning, and ensure quality healthcare for all.
Taking a swipe at the MK, Steenhuisen said: “I do not want them (children) to grow up in a country run by a party like MK, that wants to abolish the Constitution which so many fought and died for, that wants to subvert the judiciary, and that plans to expropriate all private property and nationalise the Reserve Bank.”
He said both the EFF and the MK parties “amount to an all-out assault on the Constitution” of the country causing “untold unemployment, misery and hardship for millions of people.”
“Allowing this to happen, will set South Africa’s flag and Constitution on fire, just like the DA warned during our campaign. This will signal the end of the South African dream that we all shared in 1994,” he said.
Analysts have predicted that the ANC, which obtained 40.19% in the elections, will likely form a government with the DA given President Cyril Ramaphosa’s style of leadership which is seen as leaning to the right.
The 2024 elections are indeed pivotal and no one would have predicted that Ramaphosa and Leon would meet again for talks about making a new government 30 years after the country’s first democratic elections.
Leon was an advisor to the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) and a delegate to the multi-party negotiations that led to the end of apartheid and the establishment of a non-racial democracy in 1994. Ramaphosa led the talks on behalf of the ANC.
On the table, there are suggestions that Steenhuisen could become the Deputy President to Ramaphosa.
A move that is likely going to be met with opposition from some within the tripartite alliance partners including the SACP and Cosatu.
On policies, the ANC and the DA are far apart but indications are that both parties are willing to talk to each other.
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