Democratic Alliance (South Africa)

Democratic Alliance
150px
Leader	Mmusi Maimane
Chairperson	Athol Trollip
Deputy Chairperson	Ivan Meyer Refiloe Nt'sekhe Desiree van der Walt
Slogan	"One Nation. One Future."
Founded	June 24, 2000 (2000-06-24)
Preceded by	Democratic Party
Headquarters	Address 2nd Floor, Theba Hosken House, c/o Breda and Mill Streets, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Student wing	Democratic Alliance Students Organisation
Youth wing	Democratic Alliance Youth
Women's wing	Democratic Alliance Women's Network
Overseas Supporters Network	Democratic Alliance Abroad
Ideology	Liberalism (South Africa)
Political position	Centre
International affiliation	Liberal International
Continental affiliation	Africa Liberal Network
Colours	Blue
National Assembly	89 / 400
NCOP	20 / 90
Pan African Parliament	1 / 5
SADC Parliamentary Forum	1 / 6
Website
www.da.org.za
Politics of South Africa Political parties Elections

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is a South African political party and the official opposition to the governing African National Congress (ANC). The present leader is Mmusi Maimane who succeeded former Mayor of Cape Town and Premier of the Western Cape Helen Zille on 10 May 2015. The party is broadly centrist, though it has been attributed both centre-left and centre-right policies. It is a member of the Liberal International and the Africa Liberal Network. The DA traces its roots to the founding of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party in 1959, with many mergers and name changes between that time and the present. The party adopted its current name on 24 June 2000. Most recently, it has integrated the smaller Independent Democrats and the tiny South African Democratic Convention.

The DA has been governing the Western Cape, one of South Africa's nine provinces, since the 2009 general election, having won a bigger majority at the most recent election in 2014. It is the only party to have increased its share of the vote in every national election held since 1994, and currently has 22.23% electoral support. The party is supported predominantly by English and Afrikaans-speaking South Africans.

History

Main article: History of the Democratic Alliance (South Africa)

Helen Suzman

Harry Schwarz

Helen Suzman and Harry Schwarz, who were prominent anti-apartheid campaigners during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Although the Democratic Alliance in its present form is fairly new, its roots can be traced far back in South African political history, through a complex sequence of splits and mergers. The modern day DA is in large part a product of the white parliamentary opposition to the ruling National Party. The origin of the party can be traced to the mid 1950s when some younger members of the United Party felt that they were not providing strong enough opposition to the National Party and its policy of Apartheid, causing them to break away and form the Progressive Party in 1959. In the 1970s, as it rose to become the official opposition, the party would absorb more splinters from the now disintegrating United Party and become known first as the Progressive Reform Party and then as the Progressive Federal Party. The Progressives sought to change the system from within, but in doing so choose to comply with Apartheid legislation outlawing multi-racial membership. During this time, the party was led by liberal-minded opponents of apartheid, such as Jan Steytler, Helen Suzman, Zach de Beer, Colin Eglin, Frederik van Zyl Slabbert and Harry Schwarz. In 1989, it would merge with two smaller reformist organisations to become the Democratic Party, a name it retained into the 1990s when freedom was achieved.

The DP was marginalized by the National Party's shift towards the center after 1990, and faired relatively poorly in the first democratic election in 1994, won by the African National Congress. It would establish itself as a more effective party of opposition, however, and eventually rose from relative obscurity and ascended to the status of official opposition in 1999 under the leadership of Tony Leon, mainly by taking votes away from the New National Party, the renamed version of the NP. In 2000, the DP was renamed Democratic Alliance in preparation for a planned merger with the NNP and the much smaller Federal Alliance (FA). The alliance was short-lived, and the NNP formed a new agreement with the ANC the following year. The FA also later left the DA. Many former NNP members, along with most of the party's voter base, remained with the DA however and the new name was kept. DA defections to the NNP would cause the party to lose several municipalities it had controlled to the ANC, including the City of Cape Town. However, they consolidated their status as the official opposition in the 2004 general election, and later narrowly regained control of Cape Town in the 2006 Local Government Elections, in a multi-party coalition. Helen Zille, the new executive mayor of Cape Town, then succeeded Leon as DA Party Leader in May 2007. On 15 November 2008, she re-launched the party as one that no longer acts solely as an opposition but also offers voters another choice for government. The party also introduced a new logo, featuring a rising sun over the colours of the South African flag and a new slogan, "One Nation, One Future". Zille said the new DA would be “more reflective of our rich racial, linguistic and cultural heritage”, and emphasised that she wanted it to be a "party for all the people" and not decline into a "shrinking, irrelevant minority".

The Western Cape was won by DA with an outright majority in the 2009 general election, and Zille became the new provincial premier. In her newsletter, she wrote that the victory gave the party:

... the opportunity to demonstrate in provincial government the difference that our alternative vision, principles and policies make in practice, for everyone—just as we have demonstrated where we have won at local government level. Winning power in the Western Cape will allow us to show what co-operative governance between local authorities and a province can achieve.

Formation and mergers

• 1959 – Progressive Party breaks away from United Party.
• 1975 – Progressive Party merges with Harry Schwarz's Reform Party, to form Progressive Reform Party.
• 1977 – Progressive Reform Party merges with the Committee for a United Opposition to form the Progressive Federal Party.
• 1989 – PFP merges with Denis Worrall's Independent Party and National Democratic Party, to form Democratic Party.
• 2000 – Democratic Party merges with New National Party and the Federal Alliance, to form Democratic Alliance (NNP and FA later withdrew).
• 2010 – Democratic Alliance absorbs Patricia de Lille's Independent Democrats.
• 2011 – Democratic Alliance absorbs Ziba Jiyane's South African Democratic Convention.

Know Your DA Campaign

In 2013 the DA launched the 'Know Your DA' campaign, in an attempt to try and show that the DA (via its proxy predecessor organisations) was involved in the struggle against apartheid. This campaign focused mainly on the role played by a few key individuals in opposing apartheid - particularly Helen Suzman and Helen Zille. The campaign received a certain amount of media attention, much of it somewhat sceptical. The ANC issued a detailed critique of the campaign, focusing especially on Suzman's role in the apartheid parliament.

The attempt to portray the DA as having been against apartheid has potentially been damaged by recent events, starting with the Dianne Kohler Barnard affair. James Selfe, Chair of the DA's Federal Council, has stated that it will cause 'massive damage' and hurt the DA in the polls. DA Provincial leader in KwaZulu-Natal, Zwakele Mncwango, has seemingly downplayed the situation. Stating that Kohler Barnard would be moved from her constituency if she posed a threat to the party's electoral prospects, Mncwango added that when he had campaigned with Kohler Barnard in Folweni outside Durban, he saw no hostility towards her and "from what I saw there is that I don’t see people having an issue with Dianne as a person". He acknowledged that the saga had opened up the question of the DA's past and that a discussion was needed within the party The affair also strained the DA's relationship with the opposition party Congress of the People.

The question of the DA projecting itself as a party that was against apartheid and does not tolerate racism surfaced again in January 2016 when Penny Sparrow, a DA member, posted racist comments about black people on the Durban beaches - comparing them to 'monkeys'. The DA has said it will suspend her from membership. Further such challenges continue to arise.

In response to these incidents party leader Mmusi Maimane, who succeeded Helen Zille in 2015, set out a new stance in January 2016 for the DA on the issue of racism. While the former leader Zille had also denounced racism, Maimane went a step further by spelling out a charter on racism that all new DA members will have to commit to when they join the party. He also announced that the DA would introduce equity targets when the DA selects candidates for public office in order to make the party more diverse and reflective of the country as a whole. Some of these commitments may have consequences that become hard to manage in the future, as enforcing the pledge could be hard to enforce and there could be opposition to equity targets from established potential candidates who may be affected.

In response to Maimane's new position, former DA Parliamentary Leader Lindiwe Mazibuko wrote an opinion piece in which she lauded his initiative, but criticised what she called the almost exclusive domination of white men within the DA's 'brains trust', and called upon Maimane to address this as well. The DA has denied that the party is so dominated.

Ideology and principles

The DA sums up its political philosophy as the belief in an "Open Opportunity Society for All". Former party leader Helen Zille has argued that this stands in direct contrast to the ruling ANC's approach to governance, which she maintains has led to a "closed, crony society for some". This formed the basis of the philosophy underlying the party's 2009 Election Manifesto, which seeks to build a society by linking outcomes to "opportunity, effort and ability".

The DA's historical roots are broadly liberal-democratic. During the 1990s, the party remained associated with liberal values, though party leader Tony Leon's support for the reintroduction of the death penalty, the party's controversial 1999 campaign slogan "Fight Back", and the short-lived alliance with the right-wing New National Party fuelled criticisms of the party from the left. After Helen Zille's election as party leader, the DA has attempted to reposition itself as a mainstream alternative to the ANC. The party's economic policy is also broadly centrist, and supports a mix of high spending on crucial social services such as education and health care, a basic income grant, and a strong regulatory framework, with more "moderate" policies such as a lower budget deficit and a deregulated labour market. At her 2009 State of the Province speech, party leader Zille described her party's economic policy as pragmatic:

"We believe the state has a crucial role to play in socio-economic development. We are not free market fundamentalists. By the same token we do not believe that a state, with limited capacity, should over-reach itself."

Current policies

Crime

In the DA's crime plan, "Conquering Fear, Commanding Hope", the DA committed itself to increasing the number of police officers to 250,000. This is 60,000 more than the government's own target. The party also announced plans to employ 30,000 additional detectives and forensics experts and 500 more prosecutors, in order to reduce court backlogs, and establish a Directorate for Victims of Crime, which would provide funding and support for crime victims.

In addition, the party announced its support for a prison labour programme, which would put prisoners to work in various community upliftment programmes. The proposal was criticised by labour unions, who believed it was unethical and would result in labour job losses.

In late 2008-2009, the DA took a stand against the South African Police Service's VIP Protection Unit, after several officers in the unit were charged with serious criminal offences. The party later released documentation of the unit's poor disciplinary record, and claimed its divisional commander had himself dodged serious criminal charges.

The DA strongly opposed the disbandment of the Scorpions crime investigation unit, and similar efforts to centralise the police service such as the nationwide disbandment of specialised Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units.

Social development

Central to the DA's social development policy, "Breaking the Cycle of Poverty", is a Basic Income Grant, which would provide a monthly transfer of R110 to all adults earning less than R46,000 per year. The party also supports legislation that would require the legal guardians of children living in poverty to ensure that their child attends 85 percent of school classes, and undergoes routine health check-ups.

In addition, to aid with youth development skills, the party proposed a R6000 opportunity voucher or twelve month community service programme to all high school matriculants. The party also supports a universal old age pension, and the abolishment of pension means tests.

Education

The DA's education programme, "Preparing for Success", focuses on providing adequate physical and human resources to underperforming schools. The DA supports guaranteed access to a core minimum of resources for each school, proper state school nutrition schemes for grade 1–12 learners, and measures to train 30,000 additional teachers per year. The DA continues to support the introduction of new performance targets for teachers and schools, and also advocates a per-child wage subsidy, and a national network of community-based early childhood education centres.

Health

The DA's "Quality Care for All" programme is focused on tackling the country's high HIV/AIDS infection rate. Included in these plans is an increase in the number of clinics offering HIV testing and measures to provide all HIV-positive women with Nevirapine. The party's health policy also plans to devote more resources to vaccinations against common childhood illnesses.

The party also advocates creating a transparent and competitive health sector, to boost service delivery and encourage health care practitioners to remain in the country.

Economy

The DA’s economic policy aims to create a society in which all South Africans enjoy both the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, and the opportunities to take advantage of those freedoms. In its 2010 Federal Congress booklet, 'The Open Opportunity Society for All', the party describes this society in the following terms:

Opportunity is the vehicle with which people are empowered to live their lives, pursue their dreams and develop their full potential. And the DA believes that the role of the government is to provide every citizen with a minimum basic standard of quality services and resources with which to be able to do so – a framework for choice.

The DA therefore advocates a mixed-economy approach, where the state is involved in the economy only to the extent that it can expand opportunity and choice.

The manifesto includes various proposals detailing how a DA government would manage the economy and facilitate growth. The majority of the interventions suggested by the party are aimed at creating an atmosphere conducive to job creation and greater foreign direct investment:

The DA has suggested measures to make South Africa's labour market more amenable to job creation. The party has also suggested several targeted interventions to allow for higher employment, especially amongst the youth. These interventions include a wage subsidy programme to reduce the cost of hiring first-time workers.

The DA has committed itself to a counter-cyclical fiscal policy approach. This is evident in the party's previous alternative budget frameworks, with both alternative budgets posting deficits. The party defended this stance by arguing that increased spending was necessary to help the economy out of recession. Other fiscal interventions have included a proposed scrapping of value added tax (VAT) on books and tax rebates for crime prevention expenditure by businesses.

The DA supports an inflation-targeting monetary policy regime similar to that of the African National Congress (ANC) government. It has also repeatedly reaffirmed its support and commitment for reserve bank instrument independence. The DA proposes to incentivise savings by reducing taxes on income earned from fixed deposits that are held for longer than twelve months. The party states that this would help South Africa to boost its domestic savings rate to enable the country to invest in projects that will provide additional job opportunities.

The party has rejected the ANC’s approach to Black Economic Empowerment, with former party leader, Helen Zille, arguing that the current policies have only served to enrich a small elite of politically connected businessmen. The party proposed an alternative it calls broad-based economic empowerment, which would provide for targeted interventions focusing on skills training and socio-economic investment instead of ownership targets. The party believes that this approach will give a broader group of black South Africans an opportunity to compete and partake in the economy.

The party advocates an active industrial policy that allows the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to co-ordinate industrial policy. Additionally it would also set up a sovereign venture capital fund to help support innovation in key industries. The DA also supports the creation of Industrial Development Zones and Export Processing Zones. The party suggests that by relaxing certain regulations in these zones, manufacturers and exporters would be able to grow faster and employ more people. This fits into the party's broader vision of growing the economy by cutting red tape and regulations it claims is holding back South Africa's economic growth.

Land

The DA's "Land of Opportunity" programme supports the 'willing buyer, willing seller' principle, though it also allows for expropriation for reform purposes in certain limited circumstances. The party has been critical of the resources that government has allocated to land reform, claiming that government has not been sufficiently active in buying up land that comes onto the market. Though the DA believes this could speed up the pace of land reform, their policies have been vocally criticised by members of the Tripartite Alliance. Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza accused the DA of attempting to "stifle" land reform, while the South African Communist Party contended that the DA's policies overly favoured big business.

Environment and energy

In the build up to the 2009 elections, the DA announced it would create a new Ministry of Energy and Climate Change, to ensure improved integrated energy planning in order to deal with South Africa's growing carbon dioxide emissions. The DA's 2009 environment and energy plan, "In Trust for the Nation" proposed new measures to increase energy efficiency, and the introduction of sectoral carbon emission targets.

The DA also proposes reforms to the energy sector that would see Eskom's designation as the single producer of electricity revoked, thereby attracting greater investment and a more efficient energy market.

Electoral reform

The DA broadly supports reforms recommended by Frederik van Zyl Slabbert's electoral reform task-team, that would see the current party list voting system replaced by a 75% constituency-based/25% proportional representation-based electoral system that would apply at national and provincial level. The DA's governance policy Promoting Open Opportunity Governance also makes provision for the direct election of the president, which would give voters a more direct link to the executive branch.

The DA believe voting rights should be extended to include all South African citizens who are living and working abroad, many of whom intend returning.

Electoral Performance

Proportion of votes cast for the DA in the 2014 election, by ward.

  0–20%

  20–40%

  40–60%

  60–80%

  80–100%

These charts show the electoral performance for the Democratic Alliance, and its predecessor the Democratic Party, since the advent of democracy in 1994:

National Parliamentary Election Results

National Assembly

Election year	Total votes	Share of vote	Seats	+/–	Government
1994	338,426	1.43%	7 / 400	–	In Opposition
1999	1,527,337	9.56%	38 / 400	31	Official Opposition
2004	1,931,201	12.37%	50 / 400	12	Official Opposition
2009	2,945,829	16.66%	67 / 400	17	Official Opposition
2014	4,091,584	22.2%	89 / 400	22	Official Opposition

National Council of Provinces

Election year	# of overall seats won	+/–	Government
1994	3 / 90	–	In Opposition
1999	8 / 90	5	Official Opposition
2004	12 / 90	4	Official Opposition
2009	13 / 90	1	Official Opposition
2014	20 / 90	7	Official Opposition

Provincial Legislature Election Results

Election	Eastern Cape		Free State		Gauteng		Kwazulu-Natal		Limpopo		Mpumalanga		North-West		Northern Cape		Western Cape
	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats
1994	2.05%	1/56	0.57%	0/30	5.32%	5/86	2.15%	2/81	0.21%	0/40	0.56%	0/30	0.50%	0/30	1.87%	1/30	6.64%	3/42
1999	6.29%	4/63	5.33%	2/30	17.95%	13/73	8.16%	7/80	1.42%	1/49	4.48%	1/30	3.26%	1/30	4.77%	1/30	11.91%	5/42
2004	7.34%	5/63	8.47%	3/30	20.78%	15/73	8.35%	7/80	3.59%	2/49	6.94%	2/30	5.00%	2/33	11.08%	3/30	27.11%	12/42
2009	9.99%	6/63	11.60%	3/30	21.86%	16/73	9.15%	7/80	3.48%	2/49	7.49%	2/30	8.25%	3/33	12.57%	4/30	51.46%	22/42
2014	16.20%	10/63	16.23%	5/30	30.78%	23/73	12.76%	10/80	6.48%	3/49	10.40%	3/30	12.73%	4/33	23.89%	7/30	59.38%	26/42

Municipal Election Results

Election	Votes	%	+/–
1995-96	302,006	3.48%	-
2000	None released	22.1%	18.6
2006	3,888,780	14.8%	7.3
2011	6,393,886	23.9%	9.1

Democratic Alliance Youth

The Democratic Alliance Youth (DA Youth), which came officially into being late in 2008, was led by Mbali Ntuli between 2013 and 2014. She took over from Makashule Gana in May 2013. The DA Youth national chairperson is Yusuf Cassim. Tertus Simmers and Thorne Godinho are the DA Youth Federal Training and Development Chaiperson and the Media and Publicity Chairperson respectively. As of August 2014, Yusuf Cassim is the interim DA Youth Leader.

Democratic Alliance Women's Network

The Democratic Alliance Women's Network (DAWN), promotes the empowerment and development of women and is led by Denise Robinson, MP.

Democratic Alliance Abroad

The Democratic Alliance Abroad (DA Abroad) was officially launched in November 2009. As a network for Democratic Alliance supporters living overseas, the DA Abroad is led by Global Chairperson Ludre Stevens, General Secretary Francine Higham and President Nigel Bruce.

The DA Abroad has active hubs in the United Kingdom, United States, UAE, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, Namibia, China and South Korea.

Democratic Alliance Young Leaders Programme

The DA’s Young Leaders Programme (YLP) is a political leadership development programme for South Africans between the ages of 18 and 35 who believe in the DA’s vision of the Open, Opportunity Society for All. Participants of the programme are highly motivated individuals, interested in pursuing a career in politics, with a track record of leadership excellence. Over the course of one year, participants of the programme are equipped with an in-depth political knowledge, critical thinking and communication skills and the opportunity to grow their leadership capacity, self-awareness and emotional maturity.

Controversies

Delft

Main article: N2 Gateway Occupations

In December 2007, a local DA councillor, Frank Martin, allegedly encouraged local families to occupy newly built N2 Gateway houses in Delft in the Western Cape. After over 1,000 backyarders from the area occupied the houses, a high profile political fight between ANC and DA leaders ensued, each accusing the other of racism, playing party politics, and using the poor for their own gain. The ANC along with a number of civil society organisations such as the Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers accused the DA of either instigating or tacitly approving of Martin's role in the invasions. Judge Van Zyl of the Cape Town High Court ruled to evict residents and also faulted Frank Martin for instigating the occupation. Criminal charges against Martin were later dropped. On 18 February 2009, a City of Cape Town disciplinary committee found Martin guilty of encouraging people to invade homes at Delft and was suspended for one month. A further political spat ensued after February 2008 between the DA and the Delft-Symphony Anti-Eviction Campaign, which accused the DA of favouring its party supporters. In response, Zille denied this, and pointed out that the City of Cape Town had responded to the crisis by providing comprehensive services to the Delft evictees.

Xenophobic attacks

See also: Xenophobia in South Africa

The DA and mayor Helen Zille drew criticism for their response to the 2008 xenophobic attacks in Cape Town. In particular, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel accused Zille of "fanning the flames", by speaking out against foreign drug dealers while on a visit to Mitchell's Plain. Zille responded that she had been completely misquoted, and challenged Manuel to read newspaper transcripts of her speech. Zille has also accused the ANC government of creating a dependency culture lacking of economic development that has fuelled xenophobia.

King Bulelekhaya Dalindyebo

The DA has been accused of opportunism in very publicly welcoming into its ranks King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, despite his conviction in 2012 on serious criminal charges. The perspective existed that the King could bring votes to the DA in the Eastern Cape. In the end, the DA had to expel him from the party when his conviction was upheld on appeal.

Dianne Kohler Barnard

In late 2015 DA Shadow Minister Dianne Kohler Barnard was expelled from the party after re-posting a Facebook post that praised apartheid President PW Botha. Her expulsion has divided the party, with many feeling that the punishment was too harsh, and the affair has been the first real test for new leader Mmusi Maimane. In the end, the decision was changed on appeal to the party's Federal Legal Commission, and her expulsion has been suspended for the duration of the current Parliament, although the matter may not be finally resolved as yet, with reports of internal DA party witch-hunts.

Mergers

• South African Democratic Congress (Sadeco) (merged into Democratic Alliance on 2011)
• Independent Democrats (merged into Democratic Alliance on 2014)

See also

• Liberalism
• Contributions to liberal theory
• Liberalism worldwide
• List of liberal parties
• Liberal democracy
• Liberalism in South Africa

References

• Terreblanche, Christelle. "Zille says DA can win." IOL. 31 January 2009. (accessed 2 February 2009).