DA marching against another political party reeks of desperate electioneering

On 28 March 1994, a crowd of almost 20 000 Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) supporters marched on Shell House, the former head office of the ANC, in Johannesburg. This march took place exactly a month before South Africa’s first democratic election.

Sadly, the march resulted in the death of 19 IFP supporters – shot by ANC security guards who were later granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has announced that the DA will be marching on the ANC headquarters at Luthuli House in Johannesburg tomorrow.

This is no prediction or warning that the outcome of the march will end as disastrously as the one that was to be later labelled the Shell House massacre. It is simply a reminder that, although South Africa has moved 28 years into its democratic era since that day, the country does remain politically volatile.

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There has never been reason for political parties to face off with each other physically. Political parties battle it out in elections, parliament, or the media. The Westminster type that SA opted for, pits parties against each on an intellectual level.

It must be acknowledged that the DA are indeed marching for a just cause. Corruption and electricity blackouts are at the heart of South Africa’s problems right now and, yes, the ANC cannot run away from the fact that it is their government that has led South Africa to this point.

But the DA marching against another political party reeks of desperate electioneering. And desperation, marches and political parties in South Africa are not a good or safe mix.

South Africa is in a desperate state right now and it makes logical sense that those who created this situation and continue to rule the country are reminded of the errors of their ways.

In fact, in many other democracies it would not take the official opposition to galvanise popular opinion and get citizens out on the streets marching. It would grow organically from the everyday frustrations of ordinary citizens and morph into a popular uprising directed at government. Not directed at a political party.

Some formations are hinting at a national shutdown for the same reasons that the DA is marching to Luthuli House. Although these shutdowns hardly ever have an immediate impact on the situation that they seek to address, they are better in that they are not putting political party supporters in physical face-to-face situations.

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The DA would have done well to direct its energies and efforts towards a more inclusive move like that, where they would not appear to be simply electioneering ahead of next year’s general polls. The days of the ANC and IFP engaging in running street battles are long gone.

Those who suffered through that tense violence would never wish to live through it again because, back then, political parties marching on each other was a guaranteed recipe for violence.

This will probably be one of the safest matches with guaranteed police protection for the marchers. But history is there for a reason, to remind the world of situations that could get out of hand if enough caution isn’t taken.

On this one, the best course of action would have been for the DA to march on the Presidency or some other government entity. Not political party headquarters.

The march also sets a precedent that the ANC or Economic Freedom Fighters could decide to march on the headquarters of the DA if they feel disgruntled by some actions of the DA in the province or municipalities it governs.