How long will it take for the DA to be a party for black people? Probably never

Could I Vote DA? asks Eusebius McKaiser’s book title in his 2014 offering.

It further has a tag line: “A voter’s dilemma.”

The question becomes an easier one to answer after this weekend’s DA federal congress elected a white male its party leader.

Six years ago a young black person like me might have considered voting for the DA in the local and national elections. In fact, when I cast my first local election vote in Ward 31, Dr JS Moroka municipality in Mpumalanga over a decade ago, I voted for the DA locally.

But there’s no longer a space in our political future for the DA.

There was a man, named Mr Mkhabela, who was a staunch DA leader. He was inspiring and he spoke truth to power. He was the reason why some of us saw the DA as an alternative political home. But, unfortunately, he never became a councillor of our village.

As much as who one votes for is a private political choice, the DA’s choice of top leadership in a South Africa that is more than 80% black is undesirable. It says a lot to see them elect 80% white people as their top brass. Not only that, John Steenhuisen actually won by more than 80% of votes.

Perhaps it will take 80 years from now for the DA to be a party for black people.

The weekend that was is a clear reminder the DA will always look after its white interests and nobody else’s. Steenhuisen’s win was also a reminder of why the likes of Mmusi Maimane, Herman Mashaba and Lindiwe Mazibuko left the party.

Where I live the DA is almost non-existent. And perhaps the bright side of the DA congress outcome is that this could be the beginning of the end of the DA as the official opposition. It is becoming irrelevant to a progressive young black person like myself.

But it wasn’t all gloom and doom. I was proud to see the bravery and resolute display of leadership by Mbali Ntuli. She is such a powerful black woman and while she may have not won the leadership, she has won a fan in me.

I recall  another book with a question in the title linked to the DA. This was S’thembiso Msomi’s biography of the former DA leader, Mmusi Maimane: Prophet Or Puppet?

Since I finished that book four years ago I have also struggled to answer this question about Maimane. Today, I can. My emphatic conclusion is, indeed, Maimane was a DA puppet.

My wish is the DA will continue to become irrelevant and regressive in our politics until we are left with political parties that are pro black and white people.

Any party that disregards a credible, powerful and inspiring black man or woman like Maimane and Ntuli has no space in our politics as a country.

Could I ever vote DA in the future? A resounding NO!

Chabalala is the founder and chairperson of the Young Men Movement (YMM), an organisation that focuses on the reconstruction of the socialisation of boys to create a new cohort of men.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.