Mr Steenhuisen arrives at the final DA election rally in Johannesburg on Sunday Photo: KIM LUDBROOK/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
Last Democratic Alliance (DA) election rally , South Africa's largest opposition party, was just like the party itself: nimble, well-organized and aggressive.
On Sunday, the 48-year-old leader told thousands of blue-clad supporters at a stadium in Johannesburg that the African National Congress (ANC) has brought unemployment, corruption and disenfranchisement for decades.
But help is coming, he told the multiracial crowd: “On Wednesday we will close the chapter on ANC rule.”
Mr. Steenhuisen is greeted by supporters as he takes the stage. Photo: JEMAL KANTESS/UPI/SHUTTERSTOCK
This week's election is set to mark a watershed moment in South Africa's post-apartheid history.
The ANC, Nelson Mandela's party, has ruled the country since 1994. But this week she is expected to fall short of the 50 percent of votes needed to govern alone for the first time. A new era of coalitions is dawning.
Appalling unemployment and crime rates, collapsing public services, broken promises and corruption have all turned voters away from incumbents.
Faced with such a tired and flawed opponent, the DA, which has a reputation for energy, business-friendly policies and competent management at the local level should have an excellent opportunity.
Since 2009, the party has governed the province of the Western Cape – the only non-ANC province and the only one to receive a clean bill of health from the Auditor General.
Public services in the Western Cape are managed relatively well. The economy is creating jobs and attracting investment.
“It’s very different from other provinces,” said Nomawethu Somgoyo, 59, a DA voter originally from the Eastern Cape.
“There , where I come from is terrible,” she said. “Sometimes there is no water for a month, so there is no hygiene.
“People there are hungry. They have no life. That's what voting for the ANC gets you here in my home.”
Ms Somgoyo said she could not understand why more people had not decided to support the DA in Johannesburg. “They are not lying to us,” she added.
DA supporters chant slogans during Sunday's rally. Photo: CHRIS McGRATH/GETTY
Despite such support, and although the party has long been the country's second largest, polls show it is struggling to capitalize on disillusionment with the ANC.
The projected vote share is stubbornly hovering around 20, while the ANC is expected to reach somewhere in the mid-40s.
Observers say the DA is struggling to gain wider popular support not surprising. Thirty years after the end of apartheid, politics, like much else in South Africa, is still viewed through the lens of race.
The DA is struggling to shed its reputation as the party of the rich. a white minority in a country where white governments once repressed the black majority.
“The DA has some very capable politicians, there is no doubt about that,” says one European diplomat.
> “But I just doubt that South Africa can elect someone white to lead the country at this point.”
The DA has long been accused of promoting the interests of whites, Asians and mixed race people in a country where those three groups together make up just 18 percent of the population. Black Africans make up more than 81 percent of the population.
A child holds a South African flag Photo: CHRIS McGRATH/GETTY
The Party Takes originated from the main white anti-apartheid party. Its leadership and top leaders are largely white, although most of its supporters are black.
“Race is the main problem of the Democratic Alliance,” says Max du Preez, the newspaper's editor and political scientist.
“There are not enough black leaders in its senior ranks, and race does matter in South Africa, given its long and terrible history of apartheid.”
“If quality of governance were the only criterion the way you should vote, the DA should get a two-thirds majority and the ANC should get nothing. But this is not so.
“It's about symbolism, it's about history, and it's about massive inequality in society. I'd like to have a DA government, but that can't happen.”
The DA denies it has race issues. “People look not just at race, but at competency, the ability to get things done and get results – that's the game in town and that will be the game in the next election,” Mr. Steenhuisen said.
The difficulty of conducting accurate public opinion polls in South Africa means that election forecasts have varied throughout the campaign. However, the latest figures show that the ANC will actually win less than 50 percent of the vote.
The shape of any coalition will depend on how far below the threshold the party falls. In the mid-40s, she may be able to cross the line by joining several smaller parties. Below that, it will have to seek a bigger partner – and make bigger concessions.
To broaden its appeal, the DA has formed its own broad coalition of smaller parties to topple the ANC, although it is unclear whether the pact will survive if The ANC will begin trying to poach partners.
Although Steenhuisen says the ANC must go, he has not ruled out the possibility of reaching a post-election agreement with the party if that is what is needed to retain the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters and UMkhonto Wesizwe former president Jacob Zuma resigned from the government.
“I do not rule out anything that will depend on the outcome of the elections in the future,” he said earlier this year.< /p>
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