The DA, an opposition party in South Africa, warned that if the ruling ANC and the Economic Freedom Fighters form a coalition government (ANC-EFF), the country will suffer worse than Zimbabwe did during Robert Mugabe‘s presidency. John Steenhuisen, the DA’s re-elected leader, pledged to prevent such a coalition from happening.
He said that 2024 would be the DA’s “moonshot election” to take a giant leap forward and achieve the monumental goal of leading the national government. He used the term “moonshot” to refer to a hard but necessary task, similar to the original mission to take humans to the moon. Steenhuisen says he has stabilized the party and returned it to “winning ways.”
John Steenhuisen sees the realistic prospect of the ANC being below 50% in next year’s election as an opportunity to reshape South African politics. He said the biggest threat to the country was the possibility of the ANC and the EFF forming an alliance. He said:
Given the fact that the ANC now officially co-governs with the EFF in parts of Gauteng, we need to start taking the threat of these parties ganging up to destroy our country in 2024 very, very seriously.
I want to be unequivocal about the DA’s view on this: the day that an ANC-EFF government takes over will be doomsday for South Africa. An EFF doomsday will make the collapse of Zimbabwe look like a dress rehearsal, and will leave all South Africans destitute — black, coloured, white and Indian.
John Steenhuisen warned that an ANC-EFF alliance would lead to disastrous consequences, including expropriating property without compensation, abolishing private property rights, nationalisation, and ethnic conflict.
His plan:
To prevent this, he plans to form an opposition coalition with like-minded parties and civic organizations, excluding those tied to the ANC. He said this “moonshot pact” aims to coordinate efforts to defeat the ANC and the EFF and end infighting among opposition parties. The pact will enable different organizations to retain their own identities while working together towards a common goal.
The new opposition coalition aims to achieve a 51% voter result in the 2024 elections, and a convention of political leaders will be held to discuss the way forward. Steenhuisen sees this as the most important mission for any opposition leader in South Africa.
Challenges he’s facing:
However, he still needs to address the issue of race within the DA. Out of the eleven victorious party leaders, only three are black, while the other eight are white. The elected leaders include Helen Zille as federal council chair, Ivan Meyer as federal chairperson, and Dion George as federal finance chairperson. Additionally, Solly Malasti, JP Smith, and Anton Bredell were elected as deputy federal chairpersons. The three deputy chairpersons of the federal council are Ashor Sarupen, Annelie Lotriet, and Thomas Walters.
How was Zimbabwe under Mugabe:
During Robert Mugabe’s presidency, Zimbabwe’s economy suffered severely. The government implemented policies that led to hyperinflation, which reached a peak of 79.6 billion per cent in November 2008, making the Zimbabwean dollar virtually worthless. Unemployment rates were high, and there were widespread shortages of basic goods, including food, fuel, and electricity. Mugabe’s government also expropriated farms owned by white farmers, which contributed to the country’s economic decline as agricultural production plummeted. As a result, many Zimbabweans left the country in search of better opportunities, leading to a brain drain that further weakened the economy.