South Africa’s main opposition party not ruling out deal with ANC

The Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-most popular party in South Africa, stated on Monday that it would not rule out a compromise with the ruling African National Congress in the event that the ANC does not get the necessary majority to maintain its hold on power in the May elections.

As a result of voters’ dissatisfaction with inadequate service delivery, unemployment, crime, and power outages, pollsters predict that on May 29, the African National Congress (ANC) will lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela entered office 30 years ago.

Since the president of South Africa is chosen by the parliament, President Cyril Ramaphosa or a replacement for the position would not be able to hold onto office without a coalition.

“It would depend which ANC you’re dealing with and what their programme of action is,” DA leader John Steenhuisen said, declining to disclose whether any talks had already taken place.

“I’m not ruling out anything, depending on what the election results are.”

Reuters was informed earlier this month by the ANC’s Deputy Party Secretary, Nomvula Mokonyane, that the party was not contemplating forming a coalition government with other parties and that she did not believe a power-sharing agreement would be successful.

The DA has joined forces with minor parties to attempt to secure the more than 50% of the vote required to assume power.

They include the longtime ANC bitter rival, the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party; Freedom Front Plus, which caters to white South Africans living in rural areas who feel politically excluded since apartheid ended; and Action SA, which has developed a platform based on a strong anti-immigration stance and attracts middle-class and working-class voters.

“It’s a long shot,” Steenhuisen said. He added that if the opposition coalition did not win, his priority would be to prevent the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) getting a seat on the executive.

“What I call the ‘doomsday coalition’ … is a tie up between the EFF and the ANC,” he said.

The DA is seen as a pro-business party, whereas businesses and wealthy individuals dislike the EFF, which is popular with poor, Black South Africans. The EFF promises to nationalise industries and fix inequalities in land ownership.

“I won’t sit back and just watch the country handed over to the radical Socialists,” Steenhuisen said. “If the (opposition coalition) doesn’t get over the line, we may have to look at making what is the least worst option.”

If in power, the DA would seek to pursue its policy of privatising the power sector rather than rely on state provider Eskom and eliminating red tape to make it easier for the private sector to operate, Steenhuisen said.

The DA would “open up the (electricity) market to … competition amongst players, much like you have in the cell phone industry,” he said.

Steenhuisen reiterated the DA policy of abandoning the ANC’s flagship Black empowerment scheme, which he called “racial bean counting”, in favour of one focused solely on reducing poverty, regardless of skin colour.

Race is a divisive issue in South Africa, and the DA is still seen by many as the party of white privilege.

“I don’t buy the argument that the DA is the party of white privilege,” Steenhuisen said. “The biggest beneficiaries of good, clean, accountable government are poor, marginalised South Africans.”