Steenhuisen declares war: DA’s number one priority to stop ANC-EFF doomsday

Emerging in a land-slide victory, incumbent Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen, who was re-elected as the party’s federal leader yesterday, has declared an official war on the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in next year’s national elections.

Steenhuisen went up against former mayor of Joburg Mpho Phalatse at the DA’s two-day federal congress, which took place at the Gallagher Convention Centre yesterday, where over 2 000 delegates voted for the party’s new leadership.

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‘The moon shot pack’

Under the theme “The moon shot pact to stop ANC-EFF Dooms-day”, in his address as, Steenhuisen emphasised the EFF was DA’s political ‘enemy number one”.

According to Steenhuisen, during the remaining months before next year’s election, the DA would make sure it’s number one priority was to prevent an ‘ANC-EFF Doomsday Coalition” from taking power.

Steenhuisen said over the past 30 years, the ANC had proven to be the opponent of progress in South Africa but the EFF was its enemy.

Public enemy number one

‘Today, I publicly declare Julius Malema’s EFF to be political enemy number one of the DA and I commit the DA to fight back against the EFF at every turn, with the ultimate aim of defeating the Doomsday Coalition that could seal South Africa’s fate next year,” he said.

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‘This is no longer about politics. It is about the survival of democracy and the survival of South Africa.”

Listing all the issues which would befall SA if the EFF got into power, Steenhuisen said the EFF would make the ‘collapse of Zimbabwe look like a dress rehearsal” and would leave all South Africans destitute – black, coloured, white and Indian.

He said an EFF coalition would:

• Expropriate property without compensation and abolish private property rights.
  
• Nationalise and destroy foreign investment, businesses, banks and mines.
  
• Plunge the country into ethnic and racial conflict the likes of which it has never been witnessed before.

‘If you say you are not interested in politics, I say to you that politics will be very interested in you and all you hold dear if the EFF comes to power,” Steenhuisen said.

The EFF was founded in 2013. In 2018, the EFF tabled a motion seeking the expropriation of land without compensation. The party draws inspiration from the broad Marxist– Leninist tradition and Fanonian schools of thought.

WATCH: “Julius Malema’s EFF to be political enemy number one to the DA”

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No political party can dislodge the ANC on its own

However, political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast said no political party could dislodge the ANC from the helm of power by itself.

Breakfast said it could only occur with three joining forces in a coalition formation. ‘Sometimes I get the sense they are implying they can remove the ANC from power by itself, but that is not true. The gap between the ANC and the DA is huge – but there is potential for them to work with other political parties to remove the ANC,” he said.

Breakfast said Steenhuisen should provide political direction for the DA. It was important to note that the DA needed to clarify their standpoint as a party in terms of race relations, he said.

Black middle class unlikely to vote for party against transformation

‘Black people who are sick and tired of the ANC, but especially the middle class, will not vote for a party that is against transformation, especially in terms of employment equity and Black Economic Empowerment,” Breakfast said.

In his state of the party address, Steenhuisen said for several elections now, the party spoke of the political change which was going to take place in South Africa which was inevitable.

‘The shifts we are seeing today – the undeniable implosion of the ANC, the growth in DA support in all credible polls and the rise of alternative governments – all point to one thing: a changing of the guard,” he said.

Political analyst Andre Duvenhage said the reality was that Steenhuisen’s win reflected the constituency of the DA.

If one looked at their constituency and the comparison between the liberal conservative components versus the transformational component, the liberal conservative one was a lot stronger.

DA is a lot more representative than ANC or EFF

‘What we are seeing is more of a confirmation of the DA’s status quo. If you look at transformational goals, the DA was a lot more representative than the EFF or the ANC.

The transformation of the DA was relatively applicable,” he said. Duvenhage added despite her loss, Phalatse was strong and had cemented her standpoint in the future of the DA.

Touching on the aspect of coalitions, Steenhuisen said coalitions would ‘most certainly” be a big part of the party’s election story next year.

It was still unsure how elections would turn out next year but coalition at national level was predicted. He said the events of the past few years in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane had taught them hard and valuable lessons.

‘The need for stable coalitions has to be in the minds of all voters throughout the coming election campaign.

‘We don’t simply want to bring the ANC below 50%. We also must keep the EFF out. We want the DA to be at the centre of a coalition government that is able to serve South Africans,” he said.

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