By Lehlohonolo Lehana, Live in Midrand.
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen says they do not just want to bring the ANC under 50%; they want to be at the centre of governments that can serve the people.
Steenhuisen delivered the state of the party report at the DA congress at the Gallagher Estate in Midrand on Sunday.
It’s the second and final day of the gathering where new leadership is expected to be announced later in the day.
Steenhuisen said the DA is entering the upcoming elections in a strong position, with leadership that will be expected to ensure a decisive victory at the polls.
“While there’ll be many more parties on the ballot paper than ever before, it’s becoming increasingly clear to everybody that this is a two-horse race. Even without outright majorities, there’s only one of two parties that can emerge at the centre of a coalition government. And that is either the DA or the ANC.”
Steenhuisen says the DA will be the first party in South Africa in 75 years to go from an opposition party to playing a leading role in government.
He added that the ANC’s decline is terminal, and the question now is, how fast? “We will see the end of the African National Congress in 2024,” he says to applause. “Every single person in this room stands to make history next year.”
Commenting on splinter parties, Steenhuisen said instability in some municipalities was due to too many smaller parties participating in councils.
Steenhuisen said while the future of governance in South Africa is coalitions, the party should be careful of splinter parties.
Gauteng metros have been unstable since the 2021 local government elections, and Steenhuisen laid the blame on the emergence of splinter parties.
Meanwhile one of the policy resolutions that was passed by the official opposition was a stance to protect the independence of the South African Reserve Bank.
DA Member of Parliament Ashor Sarupen, who proposed the resolution, said the independence of the Reserve Bank was particularly important at this point, given independent polls suggesting that the ANC was on its way out.
“We saw the capture of the South African Revenue Service (SARS), which was eroded during the height of state capture; what more will the ANC do now that there is a threat that the party might be on its way out,” said Sarupen.
He added that even if the ANC could go into a coalition government and retain power, an ANC and EFF coalition could not be trusted with changing the mandate of the Reserve Bank.
“The DA places the blame for the poor economic growth and joblessness squarely on the ANC’s policies, as well as ANC actions such as corruption and state capture. Populist political formations such as the ANC and the EFF scapegoat the Reserve Bank for policy failings by the government,” said Sarupen.
Another resolution that found resonance among delegates was condemning the illegal invasion and occasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.
An overwhelming number of the 2000 delegates voted in favour of adopting this resolution after it was proposed by DA federal chairperson Ivan Meyer and seconded by the party’s spokesperson of defence and military veterans Kobus Marais.
Meyer said because the international community held Russia responsible for the cost of reconstructing Ukraine through reparation and rebuilding the country caused by the Russian War after illegally invading Ukraine in February 2022 and killing hundreds of citizens of Ukraine, the DA condemned the invasion.
Marais added that the South African government has, by its actions, chosen to be on the side of Russia while women and children are suffering and dying in the current war.