By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has appointed a negotiating team to speak with other political parties about forming a majority coalition.
The team is consisting of Helen Zille, Siviwe Gwarube, Tony Leon, and Ivan Meyer.
The country is set to be governed by a coalition pact for the next five years, after the African National Congress (ANC) failed to retain its majority at the national level, Gauteng, Northern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal.
Both the African National Congress (ANC) and DA have not ruled out the possibility of joining hands to form a government in parliament and provincial legislatures.
Speaking during a media briefing on Sunday, DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party’s coalition negotiations team would engage all political parties.
“This talented and experienced team will report back to myself and to the federal executive – whereafter the party will decide on the way forward. I want to assure South Africans that the DA will always act in the interest of the people throughout this unprecedented moment in our history.”
“The DA will not bury our heads in the sand, we will face up to this challenge,”Steenhuisen said.
He added that the DA aimed to prevent a “doomsday coalition” between the ANC and far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) or former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto we Sizwe party (MKP).
The ANC remains the largest party despite the damage done by an upstart rival led by Zuma, and is therefore expected to retain the presidency.
But as the second biggest political force with 21.8% of votes, the DA is one of three parties with the clout to help it form a new majority and potentially shape the future of the nation.
In contrast to South Africa’s broader economic stagnation, crisis-level unemployment and crumbling infrastructure, Western Cape – the province the DA has controlled since 2009 – has done measurably better.
It boasts the country’s lowest jobless rate. Its main city Cape Town is a major tourist destination. Even the country’s notorious power cuts are less severe.
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Video Courtesy of DA.