DA’s only aim is to feed its obsession against the ANC-EFF alliance

Can the Democratic Alliance (DA) topple the ANC with their moonshot pact in next year’s general elections?

There are many voters who are disgruntled with the ANC but the DA may not necessarily appeal to such voters. And DA leader John Steenhuisen knows this very well – that his party stands no chance in achieving the 50% plus one majority to rule the country.

Hence, he is now actively trying to shop for suitable partners to form a coalition government. That’s why the party has already started campaigning in a bid to close the gap of party support between the DA and the ANC.

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The opposition party is pushing for a moonshot pact to give voters an alternative to the ruling party and it has approached 15 political parties to become part of the pact.

This is to ensure the ANC does not form an alliance with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) if it fails to retain its majority to govern the country.

Although political parties such as the Inkatha Freedom Party, Freedom Front Plus, Build One SA and ActionSA have accepted the DA’s invitation, the United Democratic Movement and the African Christian Democratic Party have rejected the pact.

Probably they see the DA’s move as another way for the party to boss small parties into governing – like they have been doing in Gauteng metros Joburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.

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Under the DA-led coalitions in these metros, nothing but chaos and lack of service delivery has prevailed. Therefore, one can be under no illusion that anything positive will come out of this pact. It is a recipe for disaster and if it were to succeed, it would not be a practical way to build a prosperous and progressive country. Instead, this pact is revealing what the DA stands for.

This pact fails to be inclusive of the country’s majority population. For this pact not only sidelines the ANC and the EFF, but it is also sidelining the voters of these parties which are the majority in this country. The poor black population stands to be neglected in this pact as it has been repeatedly shown by the DA’s record that it only provides services to the select few.

Just last week, residents of Pretoria East in the DA-led Tshwane experienced a total power blackout after the collapse of pylons along Solomon Mahlangu Drive due to vandalism. But instead of electricity being restored within the same timeframe as other suburbs, Mamelodi – which is the closest to where the incident occurred – was reconnected last, leaving the township without power for four days. Other suburbs were reconnected in a day or so after the incident.

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Now, this is a clear indication that the poor will be forgotten while the rich will be serviced with the formation of this pact.

There is really nothing good that can come out of this pact. For its basis to eradicate poverty, unemployment and inequalities is just a lip service to get votes.

For the DA’s only aim is to feed its obsession against the ANC-EFF alliance. And, should it succeed, this pact will lose relevance, which may cause violent protests in the country because it will gradually fail to deliver on the needs of the poor. It is not people-driven, but it is narrow and politically driven.

Therefore, with conviction, this moonshot pact, stands no chance of being successful. Most parties in this pact don’t have a lot of votes and it will be hard for this pact to reach the threshold to run the country.

To make matters worse, the pact is also not inclusive of political parties that have supported the ANC and the EFF in certain metros. This clearly signals that the Patriotic Alliance and Congress of the People are not welcomed at all.

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The DA is just running around like a headless chicken in an attempt to isolate many, because of their selfish interests.