Perhaps the DA should rethink their coalition strategy

Politics is a lot like rugby. Before the season, team managers assemble the best possible squad. They negotiate to buy players, sell players and even ask some to look for a different team. Politics is the same.

In the build-up to an election, there’s always a lot of players changing teams, often revealing their new colours with fanfare, promising to strengthen the squad and bring a new dimension to the game. After weeks or months of preparation, it’s finally time for the first match.

Match day is like election day. Every team tries to fill their stadium with supporters using every conceivable marketing method, from scantily dressed pompom girls, to team mascots acting like clowns.

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As in politics, too many rugby supporters, however, don’t bother going to the stadium, preferring a braai accompanied by their favourite lager. Most only find out a day later who actually won.

After a rugby match, when the scoreboard often tells a sad tale for many supporters, the players get their opportunity to enjoy a cold one together – as it should be. After all, they will undoubtedly get another opportunity to have another go at one another.

As for the supporters who preferred to stay home, they often contest that their presence at the match would not have made a difference to the outcome.

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Then a Springbok squad is assembled. When they take to the field, Siya Kolisi doesn’t wear his Sharks kit. Malcolm Marx doesn’t sport his Kubota Spears outfit. The Boks wear the green and gold because they are a coalition of players representing the country.

The Springboks are not a Sharks-led coalition because the captain plays his home games in Durban. They are 23 equals, playing as a team. The Griffons might not have a single player in the Bok team, but their supporters stand behind the Boks.

In a coalition – whether in sport or politics – all partners are equal. Perhaps the DA should rethink their coalition strategy. Just look how full the stadium is when the Boks play.

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