Goodbye ANC: Calls for a DA and ActionSA deal in Gauteng

Many stakeholders, including Freedom Front Plus leader Corne Mulder, have called for a coalition between the DA, ActionSA, and the Freedom Front Plus in Gauteng metros.

The latest local government election results showed that these three parties should be able to form coalitions in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and Tshwane.

Mulder said that such a coalition makes sense as it will remove the African National Congress (ANC) from power in these cities. “We need less ANC in government,” he said.

“People feel very strongly about the ANC and the role they have played in the last 30 years to bring local government to disarray.”

“I would like to see the ANC out of local government and out of the South African government entirely.”

He cited Tshwane, where, based on the results, they can form a very stable coalition between the Democratic Alliance, ActionSA, and the Freedom Front Plus.

“It will depend on the parties if they are prepared to cooperate. We are prepared to cooperate,” he said.

“We have been in coalition with some of these parties in the past, and I think we will see more stable coalitions because we can form them with fewer parties.”

Mulder said that in the past, they had a problem with too many political parties in coalitions, including very small, one-person parties.

This, in turn, created instability. “We can form more stable coalitions, which is in the best interest of the electorate,” he said.

Hermann Pretorius, head of strategic communications at the South African Institute of Race Relations, shared this view.

He said that ActionSA has changed the game in the Gauteng metros, including leapfrogging the ANC in Tshwane and coming close in Johannesburg.

“The party finally seems to have found an identity after six years. It now has the opportunity to distinguish itself more confidently from both the DA and ANC,” he said.

He said that the moment calls for a comprehensive deal between the Democratic Alliance and ActionSA.

“Representatives of neither party will like the idea. Their grievances may be entirely valid, but voters will want seriousness and service,” he said.

“This won’t be easy. Not even close. But failing to grasp the moment will be the greater political failure.”

“The DA cannot afford to miss its chance to lead a new politics by clinging to the old politics defined by the ANC for one election cycle too long.”

Pretorius is correct that it would not be an easy task. ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said that his mission was to take support away from the DA and ANC.

“There are two political parties, the ANC and the DA, where we are on a mission to put them in the dustbin,” he said.

“The ANC is a corrupt organisation funded by DA funders. The DA is a racist organisation. It does not care about poor people,” he said.