As it wrapped up its campaign in anticipation of this week’s elections, the principal opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, issued one last plea to the people of the country to assist it in unseating the incumbent African National Congress.
The largest opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, has joined forces with a few minor opposition parties to form the Multi-
Party Charter for South Africa. Under this agreement, a number of political parties will pool their votes to confront the ANC after the elections.
The smaller opposition Inkatha Freedom Party, which has promised to cooperate with the big opposition and has its strength in the popular province of KwaZulu Natal, held a demonstration on Sunday at the same time as the main opposition.
According to analysts and recent polls, the ANC might win fewer than 50% of the national vote. A number of the Democratic Alliance’s former leaders left the party to join other political parties that will be in the polls, and the party is facing pressure after its support dropped in the most recent national elections. Thousands of its leaders and fans flocked to Benoni, east of Johannesburg, on Sunday, when a tiny stadium in the town was decked with party memorabilia and blue flags.
After the 2021 local government elections, a coalition led by the DA and other parties, notably the Patriotic Alliance, in the Johannesburg council fell apart, returning power to an ANC-dominated coalition and igniting political hostilities between the two parties.
Steenhuisen has consistently charged that the left-leaning Economic Freedom Fighters and the ruling African National Congress are preparing to form a partnership following the election.
Speaking prior to the Inkatha Freedom Party’s last gathering in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, on Sunday, leader Velenkosini Hlabisa stated that the party’s primary goal was to overthrow the existing administration. AP
