Cape Town -With the UDM and the ACDP rejecting the DA’s moonshot pact, analysts say declaring war on the EFF and ANC could be seen as declaring war on efforts to redress historical injustices and transformation.
Political analyst Dr Kuhle Zwakala said the DA seemed to be oblivious of the profile of the majority of the South African electorate following the opposition party’s briefing at the weekend on its moonshot pact.
On April 3, DA leader John Steenhuisen approached political parties to consider joining the party’s “moonshot pact” ahead of next year’s general elections to keep the ANC and the EFF out of power, by trying to grow this pact’s support from a third, to a 51% majority in 2024.
Addressing the media at the weekend, Steenhuisen said out of the 15 parties approached, five had agreed to join the pact, including the IFP, UIM, ActionSA, NFP and Freedom Front Plus.
“As we speak today, our country finds itself in a dark place. Load shedding is now a permanent feature of life at the southern tip of Africa. Our country increasingly resembles a mafia state. If all goes well, the National Convention for the Moonshot Pact will be held during the upcoming winter,” Steenhuisen said.
Zwakala said: “Declaring war on the EFF and ANC is somewhat declaring war on efforts to redress historical injustices and policies to transform the lives of the marginalised.
“The marginalised are the primary audience of both the ANC and the EFF, the majority electorate. Nonetheless, the moonshot pact is ideal on paper from an opposition bench perspective.
“However, it will never materialise, the chaos in coalition municipalities in major metros is a good pilot and a case study.
“Even though there is parity between the parties that have agreed on the DA pact, collectively they will not reach 50% plus one votes. Conversely, an ANC-EFF pact could be a two-thirds majority.”
In his speech, Steenhuisen urged political donors to persuade some of the parties to join the pact, to which UDM leader Bantu Holomisa responded: “The direct implication being that donors are the ones who dictate the actions of political parties.
“If that is how the DA is run, I have bad news for Mr Steenhuisen, because the UDM’s course of action is dictated by its vision, mission, core principles and constitution,” Holomisa said.
“It is said that millions of voters stayed at home these past elections, because they are fed up with their political party of choice and none of the current selection of alternative parties on the political menu attracted their support.
“The truth of the matter is that the ruling tripartite alliance has failed South Africans. The thinking out there is that there is a need for a new alliance.”
The ACDP also called out Steenhuisen for his “big brother attitude”.
ACDP president, Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, said: “The ACDP rejects Mr Steenhuisen’s plea to endorse his unilateral decision to impose this moonshot pact against the ANC/EFF possible coalition, and his big brother attitude.
“The ACDP believes that if Mr Steenhuisen needed co-operation from other opposition parties, he should have first consulted them, and asked for their opinion, before announcing plans on his proposed moonshot pact at the DA’s elective conference.
“Furthermore, the ACDP does not appreciate Mr Steenhuisen’s use of the word ‘enemy’ when referring to the EFF as public enemy No 1, given the history of political violence in this country.”
Cape Times