South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has re-elected John Steenhuisen to a second third term in office at its congress and vowed to end the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party’s mandate in the 2024 elections.
Beating former Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse to the party’s leadership, Steenhuisen said he would initiate a process to form a pre-election pact with like-minded political parties, civil society organisations and civic movements to defeat the ANC and keep the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) out of the national government.
Steenhuisen said his invitation was open to all leaders of civil society bodies opposed to the ANC and EFF and excluded those whose organisations had cozed up to the ruling party.
“The purpose of this pact will be to forge co-ordination and unity of purpose among all organisations that want to defeat the ANC and keep the EFF out of government,” DA leader said.
To achieve what he called “a moon shot,” the pact needed a whole-of-society approach that would build on a new ecosystem of change.
“The pact’s purpose will also be to sit around the table to agree on rules of engagement that will enable different organisations to retain their own identities — while bringing an end to the petty squabbles and division that only benefits the ANC,” he said.
Political observers have predicted that the ANC would drop below 50 percent in the national elections in 2024, especially after the party’s votes decreased to 45.59 percent overall during the 2021 local government polls.
The DA and other opposition parties said they were hoping to use the ANC’s electoral decline by either forming a coalition outside the ANC or simply preventing the ANC and EFF, which is the country’s third biggest party, from forming a coalition, they said.
During the two-day congress that ended on Sunday, Helen Zille was re-elected council chairperson after being nominated unopposed.
NM/jn/APA