DA leader John Steenhuisen. Picture: Neil McCartney / The Citizen
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen addressed the nation on Sunday ahead of the announcement of the final 2024 election results at the Electoral Commission of SA’s (IEC) National Results Centre, in Midrand.
His speech followed the party’s Federal Executive meeting which was held earlier in the day in Johannesburg to discuss the way forward.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since it came to power in 1994, and will need coalition partners to surpass 50% votes and form a government.
The DA has comfortably retained power for the fourth time in a row in the Western Cape with a 55% outright majority.
The party has gained three seats in Parliament while the ANC has lost 71 seats in the election.
The main opposition party’s brainchild, the Multi-Party Charter (MPC), has not been able to make positive headway in the elections to get the hoped-for 50% +1 collectively.
In response to this, Steenhuisen confirmed that the DA will still “work constructively with those who stand with us to put SA first during this perilous time”.
He assured the party’s followers that the DA will do its utmost best to avoid potential coalitions between the African National Congress (ANC), the uMkhonto weSizw (MK) Party and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
“A combination of the ANC, MK and EFF has the power to take power. It is not the outcome we wanted, but it is the outcome we must now deal with.
“We won’t bury our heads in the sand, we will face up to the challenge,” Steenhuisen said.
He later told broadcaster eNCA that the DA would talk to the ANC and anyone who respected the constitution, but not the EFF and MK party
“The EFF and MK party have campaigned explicitly on the things that we believe are fundamentally wrong”
The opposition party leader said the Federal Executive has agreed to start “exploratory talks with other parties that share a commitment to the South African Constitution”.
Former DA party leaders Helen Zille and Tony Leon, along with some of its most senior members, will lead negotiation talks to usher in a new coalition government for the country.
Leon, who served as party leader from 1999 to 2007, and Zille, who led the party from 2007 to 2015, will lead the negotiating team that will, over the next two weeks, speak to various parties to wrangle out a governance deal.
Other members of the negotiating team include Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, parliamentary chief whip Siviwe Gwarube, deputy federal chairperson Ivan Meyer, and Ryan Coetzee.
In commenting on the surprising success of former president Jacob Zuma’s MK party at the polls, Steenhuisen said he doesn’t want his children to be raised in a South Africa run by the new party.
The MK party, which was formed in September last year, has won the most votes in KwaZulu-Natal with 45.3%m ahead of the IFP on 18% and the ANC on 17% of the vote.
Both the EFF and MK advocate land appropriation without compensation and nationalising the country’s mines.
Steenhuisen however assured the party’s followers that the DA “won’t give up on our Constitution”.
“The moment now calls for all patriotic South Africans to defend our Constitution,” he concluded.
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