Categories: South Africa

DA tag-teams opposition parties for 2019 coalition help

The Democratic Alliance announced on Tuesday that it was working with key ANC members and other opposition parties to campaign for a coalition government after the 2019 general elections.

This is based on the premise that the party did not see a majority win for any political party at the polls, which has prompted them to begin negotiations with their current coalition partners, with which they run several municipalities and metros as well as unnamed members of the ANC.

The terms and strategies under which the party claimed to be working with the said ANC members was unclear, but DA spokesperson Mabine Seabe said these members were in anonymous talks with party leader Mmusi Maimane.

“[Maimane] has stated that he is talking to everyone including those within the ANC, and it’s an ongoing engagement that we speak with people in confidence, articulating that the direction that we want to take the country in and, if you believe in that, we are willing to work with you in that capacity,” he said.

Speaking at the launch of the party’s 2019 election strategy at Constitutional Hill, Maimane stated he was willing to work with anyone who shared the DA’s vision of a post-ANC South Africa.

The party said it was speaking to all political parties represented in parliament, but particularly to the opposition parties they had already formed coalition governments with at municipal level.

At a recent meeting the parties had in Milpark, Mabine told The Citizen that parties had already come to an agreement on their ideological differences and would work together only on matters that all parties agreed with.

At the event, Maimane urged all political parties as well as like-minded members of the ANC to join forces to get the ruling party voted out of power, declaring the ruling party had lost the moral authority to run the country.

He also seemingly referenced the current disciplinary proceedings against Western Cape Premier Helen Zille for praising the purported benefits of colonialism on social media.

“There is absolutely no space for racists, for homophobes and sexists at the party that I run. And there is no space for people who hanker for our colonial and apartheid times.”

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By Simnikiwe Hlatshaneni
Read more on these topics: CoalitionsDemocratic Alliance (DA)politics