Steenhuisen needs to work a lot closer with his allies

So, 2024. Election. South Africa goes to the polls with load shedding at an all-time high and proof of “state-sponsored” corruption, looting and fraud still dominating the daily newspaper headlines.

As a nation, of which the majority are unemployed, we again queue for hours, determined to make another change – to rid our country of a government not interested in the electorate – just like we did in 1994.

Then, the Electoral Commission of SA releases the results. No party has an outright majority. The country is in limbo. After days, or weeks, of deliberation, a group of previous opposition parties form a coalition. In the National Assembly, they vote in a new president.

ALSO READ: Steenhuisen shooting himself in foot with DA’s ‘true SONA’

Outgoing President Cyril Ramaphosa, in the most important and extraordinary demonstration of democracy, steps up to the podium. First, he congratulates the incumbent president, then as a show of his and the ANC’s commitment to democracy, he symbolically hands over a set of keys to the new president.

“The keys to parliament, De Tuynhuys, and the Treasury are now in your hands,” he says. The country rejoices, and we all live happily ever after.

Really? Anybody who believes this mumbo jumbo needs to wake up and smell the kakiebos! There are only two chances of the ANC ever handing over political power in this country peacefully: fat and slim.

Let’s not forget that it was the ANC who played a leading role in ensuring that Zanu-PF stayed in power in Zimbabwe after losing the 2008 election to Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change, but then held a follow-up runoff election.

ALSO READ: DA is the only ‘credible, better’ alternative for South Africans, says Steenhuisen

Even Ban Ki-moon, then secretary-general of the United Nations, said the runoff election “would lack all legitimacy”.

So, where does that leave us here and now? DA leader John Steenhuisen needs to work a lot closer with his allies – his current coalition partners – because come next year, he will need a team to have his back. Unless his best buddy is the Dutch ambassador.