It’s been 16 years of democracy in South Africa, and we’ve spent at least 10 of those years mired in some ANC controversy or the other. And yet the Democratic Alliance has consistently failed to make any significant inroads into the most important voting bloc: black people. Why?
The Mail & Guardian recently published a survey by Ipsos Markinor, which shows that the African National Congress is still the party of choice with the majority of voters. None of the other parties came close to its 66% majority. The DA, the official opposition, received between 12% and 13% of voter support.
This does not bode well at all for any of the opposition parties in the upcoming 2011 local elections.
Nor does this bode well for democracy either. It would be far better for all of us if the ANC became a lot weaker and the DA a lot stronger, but that isn’t going to happen in a hurry.
The DA has a problem. A huge problem, and it is one of perceptions. Black voters still view it as a party of whites, pandering to white fears and seeking exclusively to protect white interests. This perception may be erroneous, but it exists nonetheless, and the DA is simply not doing enough to change it.
At its recent congress, the position of federal chairman was contested and Wilmot James, a coloured, won. Of his deputies, only one is coloured. Sizwe Mchunu, Sej Motau, Khume Ramulifho and Bonginkosi Madikizela were not elected to any of the open positions. I am using the crude qualifier of race as an example because this is one of the main reasons why the DA is viewed by black voters in the way that it is. Black people don’t get elected into the very top positions in that party. When pressed as to why, the standard response is that the DA elects people on merit, not colour. Which is all good and well, except it’s been 10 years since the DA was formed, and they still can’t find a black leader “competent enough” to be elected to a top position. If the problem was that there weren’t any good black leaders (and that is not it - how much better can you get than Joe Seremane?), then 10 years is more than enough time to groom competent leaders.
The most racially diverse party in the country you say, Helen Zille? We’re not seeing it in the senior leadership structures.
The DA believes that by raising up a crop of young black leaders - and there is a good crop of black leaders in their youth formations - the black voting constituency will eventually be won over. That is only partially correct. There is the entire question of these leaders’ involvement in their communities, but that’s a column on its own. Seeing more black leaders rise to senior positions within the party will only convince black voters to take a closer look at the party, and then they will be deterred by the DA’s policies.
Consider for a moment who the ANC’s constituency is. Its members are more likely to be living in a township, taking taxis to work in a factory somewhere. They are probably members of Cosatu or its affiliates. If not, then they are in the informal sector, or not employed at all. These are people with not many guarantees in life, least of all their jobs. They rely to a great extent on South Africa’s beefy labour regulations to keep them in bread and butter. How will the DA’s unflinching dedication to capitalism wash down with these people?
The DA is not the party for such people. If they were to make serious attempts to elect senior black leaders with good track records and rapport with the people, they would most likely win over some of the UDM’s or Cope’s constituency: Black people with tertiary educations, who live in city apartments and frequent News Cafes. There’s no majority vote there.
If the DA is serious about gaining a majority vote anytime this century, it needs to rethink its policies. I don’t see it ascending to the Union Buildings in its current form.
The party also needs to rethink its tone and stance. It comes across as being simultaneously paranoid and arrogant. As Zackie Achmat put it, “The DA campaigns are often based on racial fears. Its much-vaunted party machine is based in white, Indian and coloured areas. All its so-called election victories in Western Cape illustrate this. These are choices that its leadership makes.”
Forget about the ANC. Simply pointing at Nyanda, Yengeni and Zuma’s numerous wives and expecting me to place my mark next to Helen Zille’s face in the ballot is not enough. The DA needs to come down from its smug ivory towers and woo black voters. It’s that simple, really.
What is the Democratic Alliance doing to win MY vote?
The DA has demonstrated that it can deliver on the mandate given to them by the electorate, fulfilling the the basic needs of the communities in which it serves, and demonstrating the ability to apologise when they get things wrong. (The toilets in Cape Town, being one such example, when Helen Zille apologised in the parliamentary chamber).
This is why the party's support is growing in the Western Cape. Whilst its support may have initially come from purely race-driven voting decisions, when given an opportunity to govern they have done so well that voters previously aligned to the ANC (and others) have switched allegiance simply because they enjoy better service delivery.
You suggest that the DA's campaigns are run based on racial fears. I disagree. It is the ANC which peddles the lie that a vote for the DA means a return to apartheid.
As South Africa's democracy matures, voters expect their quality of life to improve too. It is simply not happening, and eventually after voting for the ANC year after year, people are realising that an alternative does exist,and if that means that they have to place their mark next to the face of white woman at the ballot box, so be it.
Why do people buy Apple or Nokia ahead of Motorola?. It's the same thing. The ANC's days of relying on brand loyalty are numbered.
Think about it.
Consider yourself whammied.
Sipho also correctly made the point that the most important demographic in our elections is of poor black South Africans. Not once did he call anyone real or unreal black people. But rich black people with tertiary educations, along with white people with tertiary educations, don't quite fit this mould, do they Evan?
Keep your pants on.
You're right, the DA would probably get more of the black vote if they had more blacks in high positions (the corrupt political morality of this strategy is another discussion).
You're utterly wrong that the solution is for the DA to change its policies. These same voters who brought the underperforming, corrupt ANC government back to power time and time again did not do so because they carefully studied the ANCs labour friendly policies and contrasted these with the capitalist policies contained in the DA manifesto. Give us a break! The reason the government is never held accountable no matter what the hell they get up to is simpler. It's a combination of lack of education and a propensity to vote along race lines. The solution to that problem is education, education, education... and journalists like you directing your rhetoric at the real problem.
If you are prepared to advertise that your internal support for the DA is close to or less than the national average, why not go on record and tell us whether your internal support for the ANC is representative of the national vote, that is, did nearly two thirds of your active contributors vote ANC in the last general election?
For the record, I don't think the contributors to a news and opinion publication should necessarily be representative of the national vote. In fact, I would be not less than horrified to learn that two thirds of the contributors to the Daily Maverick, which seems to be a publication with a strong moral and intellectual ethic (and caters to those with the same principles), voted to have more of the same bankrupt politics for another term.
Why would a party do that? In democracy, a party exists to promote a certain political ideology and certain policies. If the DA changes its policies to get votes it runs against democracy. It's basically then just looking for power, which is hardly democracy at all.
This is why a black face or a white face really makes no difference. It goes back to ideology and policy. It's also about results. I think the DA gets that and so voted the best people for the job in. It would go against their policy to do otherwise, and at least they're consistent - unlike the ANC which talk from both corners of their mouth.
The DA is a relatively young political party so I'm sure that in time the makeup of the leadership will organically transform to more closely reflect that of the country as more black leaders emerge out of the membership.
The DA has policies which it believes are right. Changing those for cheap votes would be extremely disappointing. The DA could for example offer more socialist promises and get more votes now, in the same way as they could have obtained more votes during apartheid by being more right wing. BUT ... its just not the right thing to do.
If maintaining the moral high groung means remaining opposition forever, so be it.
Any political party that wants to be relevant rather than "pure" will see the message in the numbers and make that change.
Relevant and pure are not mutually exclusive.
No party should change its policies just to be popular. This is not a game of popularity. Sure, I understand politics often is but that's the bad side of it. What this is about is finding solutions to problems and implementing these.
If a party formed tomorrow saying it would pay everyone's salary and give everyone cars and houses and no one would need to work, that would make them more relevant than any other party in our country. Sure, they're relevant, but they're unrealistic. All they're doing is playing to the masses, trying to gain power, they aren't actually providing any true solutions that will be sustainable.
The DA has its solutions to problems, the ANC theirs. One of these solutions is going to be better than the other, and one of them might even be flat-out wrong, regardless of how relevant the solution is.
Relevance is one aspect of all this, sure, but it's more complex than that. The overarching principle is that the party forms around certain ideologies and policies that it believes will be a solution to the problem. It shouldn't change its solution just to get power, because then it obviously doesn't care about the problem or the solution, it only cares about getting power.
And a party that only cares about power will do whatever necessary to gain it, and then do whatever necessary to keep it. We all know where that goes.
The DA sees that the ANC is not delivering what the voters are asking for and have styled their policies to deliver, health, justice, safety, housing and education. Why must they adopt the crony system just to appease a few people who are happy to cling to the NP colour policies?
South Africans will vote for the party that is going to deliver a better standard of life. Who cares what the colour of the leadership is as long as they are honest.
Search for the phrase "most multi-racial party" in that article to see how they reached that conclusion. Researchers measured the race of people who "admired" (not "voted for") Tony Leon, former DA chief. 40% of those people were black South Africans, which is not too bad under the circumstances. Unfortunately the party and its supporters have deployed the phrase in a wildly misleading fashion.
Perhaps you are already sceptical about the DA's multi-racial credentials, but since this study accounts only for "admirers" of the former party chief, and not actual voters of the party, and CERTAINLY not the leadership structure of the party itself, the claim that the DA is South Africa's "most multi-racial party" is completely misleading, even false.
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/DA-not-a-party-for-minorities-Zille-20100724
Your link is old in political time "An analysis of MarkData's July 2008 Political opinion survey" and much has changed since then.
To become a real South African one has to embrase all the various charters that abound in our country. One of them says that the disasters of the past must, not may, be repeated.
Very sad to see the open racismthat exist today by the born free generation. Wonder what has gone wrong?
"Look at us. We're so perfect and good. Why the hell aren't these blacks voting for us? There's only one possible answer: they're stupid and can't see past race."
Why would I want to vote for a party that thinks of me like that?
What makes you say Donovan is DA?
Get over it. Vote for policy and quality of leadership. If that is ANC, fine.
See where I'm going with this? Meritocracy knows no colour. China.
(Sorry for double post, thought I should put this in the right place).
Have you ever bothered to, just as an experiment of course, join one of the DA structures to do an investigation from the inside of the DA attitude. Is the DA's respect for the intent of our Constitution not sufficient proof that have agreed with everything it contains? Time to write your insights with a lot more experience gained at the coal face instead of assumptions.
I came, I saw, I left in a hurry. Your insinuation is quite correct - the ANC is not doing enough for me. However, that does not automatically make the DA a viable choice. And that's the entire point.
See where I'm going with this? Meritocracy knows no colour. China.
First, since the section (whites) that vote for the DA, supposedly the most multi-racial party in the country, are excluded from that (by virtue of the fact that they vote for the most multi-racial party in the country); I would assume that he means that the majority black voters of this country are immature and racist (since by definition anyone who makes decisions based on race must be racist). I'm only pointing this out to get it out of the way. Whites vote for the DA and are sophisticated, educated and mature voters. Blacks vote for the ANC and are uneducated, immature voters. What a relief, glad you don't hold us in contempt there.
Second, people who want to make points based on history and political trends should try to have a working knowledge of both. The Americans have not shown us anything of the kind. Anyone who has any knowledge of American politics will tell you that for the most part you can tell what party the average voter will support based on their race, social class, and place of residence. Blacks, Hispanics, Jews and other minorities are likely to vote democrat (and have essentially done so since Franklin Roosevelt broke stranglehold that Republicans (the party of Lincoln and the freeing of the slaves) had had on the black vote (in the north, there was no black vote in the south) since 1865. You would also know that the Republicans have essentially owned the south since Nixon's southern strategy of 1968 (as well as Lyndon Johnson's - a Democrat - signing of the Civil Rights act in 1964) broke the hold that the Democrats had had over the south. For instance, Barack Obama’s election victory in 2008 was based on very high majorities of minority voters (over 90% for Blacks as an example), white voters supported McCain by 57% to 43% for Obama.
Other "immature" voting patterns, the Conservative Party have not won a Scottish constituency since the early 1990s and have always lost Wales to Labour and Labour expects to see pigs fly before it wins a majority in the South-East of England.
In general try to be of your facts before you try and use them to say nasty things about your fellow South Africans.
In other words he did precisely what the DA should do, he worked hard to convince the electorate that he was one of them. The DA seems to have decided that blacks can take it or leave it as it is because it is perfect. Guess what, they're leaving it.
If the DA wants to win an election, then it needs to convince a lot more South Africans that it represents their interests. Granted it is not an easy problem to solve, and it is not really the DA's fault that the voters they want to attract have such negative perceptions of the party.
But it doesn't matter whose fault it is - it is the DA's problem. And one they need to solve if they want to be taken seriously.
It is a problem for South Africa if we don't have a realistic alternative for a political party. But that alternative doesn't have to be the DA. Because of the way our voting system works, the alternative could be more than one party. It is not as if the ANC isn't already a coalition government.
Adjectives I would use to describe the DA: condescending, patronising, obsequious, whinging, small minded, minority party. That is my perception, at least. One which I will willingly admit is a year or more out of date.
Obama won because he is a great salesman. He had a positive message and didn't get involved in backbiting slanging matches. A lesson the DA could learn from, and I hope it has already done so.
As Michael Charton points out, the way to change the colour of the DA is for black people to flood the party's membership. Simple, really.
Or do you seriously believe that its up to Helen Zille to change her colour in order to attract your vote?
Why would I go out of my way to vote for a party that is so full of itself that it believes it has attained a state of such perfection that mere voters have to bow down before it in awe and beg to vote for it. The arrogance, ignorance, contempt of (us uneducated) black voters that is apparent in all these comments suggests that you guys will be in the minority forever. At least you’ll have the consolation that you remained pure.
Im not particularly loyal to the DA, having voted for the ANC twice before. However I have decided that, while the danger of a one-party state exists, I will always vote for the strongest opposition party, whoever that be.
I recall Helen Zille being asked by Chris Barron (20 questions, ST)what would make her stop supporting the DA. Her answer: If the DA ever won a 2/3 majority.
There is a very large gap between offering universal franchise and providing democratic rule (i.e. according to the will of the people) and students of the future will laugh at our system many years from now.
Within that framework, I support any party best exposing poor governance - don't care what colour or how small.
The woman shown on the poster looked like Gwen Anderson (the Madam from Madam and Eve). Right down to the carefully coiffed hair and pearl necklace. Taken with the aggressive and divisive slogan on the poster, it reminded me of everything I don't like about the DA.
Which made me think: my biggest problem with the DA is their image. Now it is all very well to say that it is important to vote on policies, but if that were the case I would probably vote for the ANC. The reason I don't is because I have no faith in the ANC doing what it says it will do.
So perhaps what the DA really needs to do is hire a PR agency that can show how much they care about the plight of the poor. It doesn't have to be the truth, but since when does the truth matter in politics.
Hah! Maybe that is her problem - the truth rarely makes for good politics.
Although it does remind me of the story where a candidate accused his opponent of being a philanthropist and a homo sapiens.
Needless to say the opponent lost, because nobody wanted to vote for a homo sapiens, and the fact that the opponent was a philanthropist just sealed his fate.
Sometimes the truth can work in politics.
Try lying to yourself and then ask whether you can believe that person.
The truth matters to me. But as Aldous Huxley is alleged to have said:
"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad."
There is a reason politicians are economical with the truth. In the hands of a skilled politician, the truth is malleable. And as this whole debate shows we all have our own versions of the truth.
For a politician, standing on the podium and admitting the whole truth would usually be career suicide. It certainly helped end Gordon Brown's career.
"Lord bless me so that when I grow up I'm wise enough and worthy enough to vote for the DA"
Boy oh boy, I can't wait.
The fact of the matter is that when a government finds their employees, especially those in essential service, prepared to strike to get their just deserts it is time to examine another parties credentials. Can this be done from the outside looking in? No Nyiko Mageza, join and prove your points to people who will listen.
What are you scared off? Finding out that their are white people that want to atone for past wrongdoings or that your current idols all have feet of clay.
If I had to base everything I do in life on what would suit me best as a *white* person, that would pretty much make me a through and through racist.
Fact remains, most people in this country vote along race and even tribal lines - and this article is an solid example of that way of thinking. We have a looooong way to go.
When it began putting forward its open society philosophy, the pundits said it would NEVER get beyond the leafy suburbs like Houghton. "The message in the numbers"
When most of the English-speaking electorate lined up behind it (people change), the analysts pointed out it would NEVER get the Afrikaners (meaning white Afrikaners, of course) behind it. "The message in the numbers"
Once the majority of Afrikaners supported it (people change), the pundits said that it would NEVER grow beyond the white voter. "The message in the numbers"
When the majority of Coloured and Indian voters started supporting it (people change) including a niece of Shabier Shaik, the "writers and critics who prophecise with their pens" [including Sipho Hlongwane] are chanting that mantra that the DA will NEVER attract black votes. "The message in the numbers"
In questioning why no black got elected to one of the three deputy chair position, Sipho gives the answer away by listing the candidates: four blacks competing (as individuals) for three positions. Would he rather that the DA leadership applied a quota and told three to stand down so as to avoid splitting the token vote? Two of the three who were elected - in a secret democratic vote - happen to be women. Had the black men won, the critics would no doubt have been shrieking sexism! Some folks just need to nitpick.
In answer to your question: "What is the DA doing to win my vote as a black man?" the answer is NOTHING! NIL! ZIP! But it *is* appealing for your vote as a South African. It is calling for an open opportunity society as it has been doing for fifty years, despite rejection and abuse. In the words of Steve Biko: " ...looking forward to a non-racial, just and egalitarian society in which colour, creed and race shall form no point of reference.... one man, one vote, no reference to colour, free participation in the economic, social societies by anybody; equal opportunity and so on". If that doesn't turn you on, you should just stay with the ANC and not be bothering with the DA.
The mere fact that you ask the question is a good sign. If you were happy with the ANC then you would not even be asking.
In my humble opinion, what we need is an active civil society, focusing on our rights and responsibilities as citizens of South Africa, engaging individually and through communities at every level of society, making our voices heard and our presence felt through engagement and participation. We can't do much about our taxes, but we simply can't leave our futures in the hands of the politicians. We have to take control of our destiny and hold those in power accountable.
What about the question; “when will the real visionary, intelligent, talented black leadership of this country form a political party that all like-minded South Africans, regardless of race, would want to vote for?” I can’t wait…
The DA are doing sweet Fanny Adams to win your vote and if you don't somehow end up voting for them anyway, your're an ignorant darkie and bloody agent to boot!
Smoke that in your pipe!
As usual you are making your point by attempting the Malema solution. The DA do not scare, all we do is deliver to all the people that which we have to according to our Constitution.
Real growth of a political party takes awhile. Voters will often change their minds subconsciously and vote for a different party because they will not have been swayed by party spin doctors. You will know those salesmen, probably one yourself, that appear to be saying the things you want to hear but never actually providing the proof thereof.
Now back to the real question Sipho wants to ask but dares not. What has the ANC done to keep people voting for them?
after the ballot is accounted for, we get the government that we deserve
all the fancy verbal footwork apart this is how it works -
1) if you feel that the incumbent has done right by you (and the rest of us), that's where you put your cross, or
2) if you feel that they have not, you look further down the list
3) see nothing you like, go back to 1)
that's what mature democracy is all about: rational thought, then rational choice
(i'm not making a value judgment here, that's just how it works: you be the change that you want...presuming you want change at all)
The fact that South Africans are still using colour as a method of defining our actions proves that the ANC's promised non racial utopia is not going to happen.
What's next? What is the DA doing to secure the female vote? Disabled vote? Vegetarian vote? Catholic vote?
Identity politics continues ad infinitum in South Africa. Yawn.
This leads to the question of what a political party is: a group of people with a particular view on the principles on which a country should be governed, that should include people who can (given the opportunity) effectively implement their policies. There are 2 aspects: policy and the ability to implement it through effective systems and controls.
These are the factors that should instruct your vote:
Which party on the ballot offers a policy that most agrees with how I would like my country governed?
Do they have people with the ability to effectively implement those policies?
If not, would we be better off with another party that can do so - would alternative policies be better than a limp-wristed, corrupt implementation of my preferred policies?
I raise this question because it sounds to me from your question that you, "as a black man" are looking for a party with a racial agenda favourable to yourself in its policies.
Phillip de Wet/Alisdair Cameron:
I admit to also assuming that DM readers and contributors would be largely DA voters (though I allowed for a large COPE proportion) for the following reason - a democracy with a 2/3 majority is not much of a democracy; therefore, given that the ANC are assured for now of electoral victory, it is beneficial for our democracy to vote for opposition; however, a fragmented opposition is by definition weaker than a single block with a unified voice (there is a good reason countries like the USA and the UK have become essentially 2 party democracies), therefore the vote most beneficial to South African democracy should at present be DA. And this is where I must argue with Sipho once again: "... However, that does not automatically make the DA a viable choice. And that's the entire point." The DA is a foil for the ANC, who may not be "doing enough for you", but are doing plenty against you, and have the power THROUGH THEIR UTTER ELECTORAL DOMINANCE, to get away with it.
This is of course just my reasoning, and I always reserve the right to be wrong, so I welcome reasoned criticism of my logic.
Many rural or non urban saffers , just accept decay under the ANC . Sadly , the ANC monopolize this and they practise a slow poison of deception to these rural / non urban persons , which soothes them as it anaesthetises them .
Earl Nightingale tells us in the "strangest secret" lecture , that the strangest secret in the world is "only you can make the difference."
Instead of our fellow countrymen engaging in destruction of schools , varsities etc. as protests against ANC non delivery of services , school fees etc. , they should be going around in organized structures to rural / non urban voters and not just telling , but convincing them in their own language they have the right to cast better votes - ANC is not anything close to a worthy vote judging from this fetid swamp of averice and corruption RSA has become under ANC misrule .
Until such time as all educated saffers make this effort to inform the largely semi literate rural/non urban countrymen they have this right , it is unlikely anything is going to change dramatically . You only get action out of an ANC politician if he is unsure of re election - and the ANC beginning to realize they are in for a 2014 surprise and a bloodied nose - which may explain why they are arresting reporters who flush out the truth - Mzilikazi we Afrika (spelling) is purportedly under arrest for a letter joked about in Ray Hartleys news room which never even made the news , but in reality is probably in detention for giving the ANC a bloody nose over the move from Wachtehuis .
It would not surprise me if Mzilikazi is subjected to some perverse form of ANC counter intelligence indoctrination and turned into what were once known as askari's . Strength to your elbow Mzilikazi . Dont bow down to tyranny - it'll beat you every time . Col Hannibal Smith of the A team once said "a closed mouth makes no enemies , but it also catches no flies" .
This clamping down on news freedom and now the arrest of a prominent reporter is a particularly grave state of affairs , and reminiscent of what McApe up north did to silence opposition .
Please provide a description of, what you consider to be, a party worthy of voting for? Should this desciption have merit I am sure we can get it off the ground by 2013.
YOU are the voters you are waiting for ...
http://www.facebook.com/#!/dailymaverick?v=wall&story_fbid=100580243333497&cmntid=100605053331016
There, that's the best I can do. So what do you think? Do we have a future in politics?
RESPOND TO CHRIS POTGIETER
Chris Potgieter, you raised some interesting views about DA and its support based in CT, from a white man’s perspective. You however failed to clearly understand the main focus of Sipho Hlongwane’s article. I don’t think his article is about service delivery per se but about how to win black voters before you awarding yourself gold medals on service delivery.
I don’t think DA will win black voters by simply pointing at the records of their service delivery, because we all know, that white community has benefited from DA victory in the Western Cape, and they will continue to benefit, from DA service delivery agenda in the Western Cape. Since its existence, DA never ever draft any policy on racism and racial integration, despite the fact the City of Cape Town is unfortunately perceived by many black people as a hostile city towards blacks. To put it bluntly, the City is known to be the City where racism is what black people eat everyday at their work, homes and in public. I have been in Cape Town since December 2005, and I can attest to such perception.
I think you are incorrect to say that the ANC campaign is the one which is based on racial fear. That’s not true at all. I think DA campaign “refresh” the history of racial classification in South Africa, which unfortunately forcing black voters to gun against the party by voting for the ANC in full force, all the time, with or without good record on service delivery. That’s what happened to me in Cape Town – I voted ANC, dysfunctional as the party was because I wanted to protect the interests of a genuine racial integration, more particularly in Cape Town.
As a black man, a genuine racial integration is very important. And for me, it is on top of the priority list before even service delivery agenda. I cannot see this country going anyway without a genuine racial integration, something which DA failed dismally to include in its political agenda, from Tony Leon to the current Helen Zille’s area. Remember quality of life cannot improve until a genuine racial integration has been dealt with; unfortunately this is the language that does not exist in the DA camp. The DA camp will be doomed to think that by delivering on the voters’ mandate will win them black votes. Whose voter’s mandate anyway, white voters’ mandate of course.
I will simply say that come the next election, ANC will win again. I am not a die-hard ANC card carrying supporter or committed to romancing race politics, but when it is time to cross my future on the ballot paper in the next election, I will do so for the ANC with no regret. Voting ANC has nothing to do with the brand, if you think so, it is about the party’s commitment to racial integration and this agenda will continue to wins black voters. There is no doubt that the reason the DA camp won the Western Cape Province was due to dysfunctional and internal fight within the ANC in the Western Cape Province, not entirely because voters in the Western Cape Province see the DA camp as their “new” home.
It is so fortunate that even today race still does matter in politics, and it mattered before 1994 and it will continue to matter in politics in this country until such time there is a genuine racial integration that promote a genuine racial diversity and no racism at workplaces, homes and public areas, in its entire format, silent or loud, direct or indirect formats. Racism has taken a new shape; DA must re-shape to win black voters, or stay DA.
Yours in the spirit of a genuine racial integration and diversity –
FIGHT AGAINST RACISM IN ITS ENTIRE FORMAT!
That was at about 1964 and you can trace the NP's demise from that date. Maybe you will continue to vote for the NP but will your children once they grow up. Our society now, my immediate world anyway, is pretty integrated although full integration will take time.
Certainly my born free grandchildren have friends from accross the broad spectrum of people calling themselves South Africans. This is something they learnt in our home which never allowed colour or creed to be a deciding factor in who will be a frend or a family member.
We value our vote highly bur must insist that those that receive it will not abuse their powers to ensure the govern by oppresive measures. Unfortunately much like the old NP one is witnessing the return of their methods to hang onto power. It is just not about colour only but also about quality of life for all.
1) In 1994, the NP received the largest opposition vote very much predicated on the logic commonly espoused for voting for the DA - we need a strong opposition party hence let's vote for ...x... If this advice was always followed blindly by everyone we would not see the emergence of meaningful opposition. DA defenders will defend the governance record but its important to note that arrogance and internal disfunction has put paid to other parties. The same could always happen in time. And note that the ANC has far stronger structure (and other reasons cited) for whatever internal disfunctions it faces to make a severe dent on its support
2) Future voting patterns and constituencies should take into account a lot of the immigration that has taken place into South Africa (especially from the rest of Africa). How long did it take for us (South Africans in general) to adopt the categories of whites, indians/asians, coloureds and blacks to that we easily fall on? What lens will we view people who don't fit these categories going forward? Often when it is said that "Cape Town is hostile to blacks" the blacks referred to are implicitly from "traditional" South Africa. While not lingering on any chauvanistic tendencies we as South Africans generally harbour I do believe that there is an important blind spot constituency emerging (first and second generation) most (including political parties) forget. This will change and it will be interesting to note how and when it changes
What will they teach their offspring about the rulers of our country?
The difference might come in how many South Africans, once educated, will stay in their country of birth when weighing their potential futures?
sition.
A practical example; during our 2nd election (1999) Leon visited Durban for a few days and apart from a big city hall meeting had a few smaller ones. I attended one at Musgrave/Berea, mostly middle/upper class whites and a few Indians attended and ± 80% of Leon's speech consisted of berating whites for not embracing the new SA 100% and detailed exactly how we could asssit in making the new SA better. At question time he did the usual "knocking" the ruling party.
The morning paper next day on page two focussed (±90%) on his "knocking' the Govt and a few lines at the end of the article about the main body of his speech. I travelled that day per car and the SABC comments/focus all day in its news editions was 110% only about his 'knocking' comments and exactly zero was mentioned about his berating/lecturing us whites on our duty/responsibility in the new SA.
So go to a few meetings and ask questions, get the DA message direct from the horeses mouth and then decide.
Brent
Unfortunately I have not heard from a DA representative. I must say, I'm quite disappointed by that.