Our politics are skewed, very skewed. In a country where blacks are a majority, the official opposition is a white party – or former white party. This doesn’t reflect the true demographics of the country. When will this change?
But I digress.
It is interesting that a white DA member responded to my letter titled Who will be the DA’s mayoral candidate in Mogale City?. It would have been strategic for the official opposition to have had its black member responding to my letter. The opposition has missed an opportunity to convince the black electorate that it’s are on their side. Pity.
The DA has to accept that our politics are still racially aligned. Voters vote on the basis of race, not policy and performance, thanks to the demon of apartheid. Loyalty and sentiment play a crucial role in voter behaviour. And it will remain like that for a long time to come.
So the masses will still vote for the ANC in the forthcoming local government elections, just like they did previously, despite their anger against the governing party about this and that. That drives the DA’s Lawrence Shabalala mad, and I suppose it upsets the rest of the official opposition party members too.
What are the chances of the opposition party winning Mogale City? The party needs black votes in order to win the City. Is it doing a good job in terms of wooing black voters? I’m not really sure. But the DA is yet to make serious inroads in my neighbourhood – Kagiso. I only ever see a handful of people wearing the DA’s T-shirts, and they don’t look like party members.
I have noticed that the DA in Mogale is not attracting black members who are politically savvy. Most of the black opposition party members don’t inspire confidence – no offence intended, but they don’t make you to want to join the party.
In addition, the DA has no struggle credentials, whereas the ANC does. I’m not playing the struggle credential card here; I’m just stating a fact that gives the governing party an edge over the opposition. And the ruling party uses those struggle credentials to its advantage. And so it should; this is politics.
The pertinent question is: What has the official opposition done for the masses to make them entrust it with their votes? Are they sponsoring black students to further their studies? Are they helping black entrepreneurs to build their businesses? Are they helping the poor to live a better life? The answer is a resounding “No!”
There is no denying that many people are gatvol with the ANC. But does that mean they will ditch the liberation movement and vote for the opposition in the forthcoming elections? Not at all. They will either vote for the governing party or not vote at all – and that will work to the ANC’s advantage. So it will take a while for the DA to rule Mogale City, if ever.
