DA should not be casting stones
IF TRUTH be told, the votes the DA received in 2016 were not necessarily from voters who were suddenly overwhelmed by its policies or the candidates posted.
Many, perhaps out of desperation, or seeking an alternative to a degenerative
ANC, or even thinking the DA was the answer to all things wrong, sought to support the party. This was notable in the predominantly Indian areas of ethekwini.
For the unsuspecting voter, the internal machinations of a political party contrasts vastly with what is portrayed in the media, and the DA is no different.
The ideological background of the DA, together with the relics of apartheid still manifest within the DA, which initially propelled it to the fore, must be viewed in the context of how the party’s trajectory is unfolding.
Undoubtedly, there are those occasional few who are principled enough to stand up against the hierarchy – evidently “white” controlled but “black” polished – and in so doing incurring the wrath of party bosses.
The DA would still have been a fringe party if it relied on the white, coloured and Indian vote in racial terms. Its zest to attract the “black” voter has, to a large extent, relied not so much on its own policies but rather on the inadequacies of the ANC and its former leader, Jacob Zuma.
In doing so they felt elevated by reasonable successes at the ballot box, but have recently demonstrated that once Zuma was removed and Cyril Ramaphosa was installed as president, the plot is severely weakened as their own shenanigans are being revealed.
Their razor-thin coalitions with their arch-rival, the EFF, are already heading for impending disaster, if not already there.
The land issue, potentially a hot potato in the months ahead, has become a divisive aspect which is contra-aligned to the ANC and EFF, who will be using it as an electoral tool to woo the majority of black voters – mainly the landless.
The Patricia de Lille matter has the potential of backfiring significantly against the DA, especially in the Western Cape, and their zest to remove her at any and all cost must be seen in the context of power-mongering rather than a principled act of political gamesmanship.
The lack of women in its “Big Brother” executive at national level has been noted. The number of whites in the executive of its ethekwini caucus has been attacked despite palliatory rebuttals by some of its white leaders.
The reality of a “black caucus” emerging within its ranks is a reality that is being watered down, but for how long?
The DA revelled in its attack of its political talisman Zuma and marvelled at their litigious successes against him and his cronies. But many of them, including Zuma, are no more.
The latest debacle surrounding Natasha Mazzone, a white woman catapulted as second deputy federal chairperson, will ramify in the months ahead, with threats of court action by Gauteng MPL Khume Ramulifho, who is cited as claiming that no election was held for this position yet she was nonetheless “appointed”.
Mmusi Maimane did not handle the De Lille saga well, playing to the peanut gallery and the attempt to increase his leadership longevity also did him and his backers no favours in the party.
To compound this, De Lille’s attendance at an Eff-driven memorial service for Winnie Madikezela-mandela aroused the ire of the federal chairperson, James Selfe, as he lamented her “misconduct” for not asking permission to attend.
So much for the DA’S boast of “freedom of association”.
There have been desultory actions lately by the DA that are highly inexplicable, noting its holier-than-thou portrayal of itself and its démarche hereon will be first, damage control within its ranks and then, the unenviable task of trying to convince even the most illiterate voter that the DA can offer that “better life for all”.
There can be no question that the disquietude within the DA post-elective congress is no furphy (rumour) and the racial intonations emerging suggest that it is eons away from bridging an apartheid-caused gap that can only widen as it attempts to attract more “black” members.
So, while the DA may threaten the electorate with the impotence and degeneration of the ANC and become wholly derisory in the political sense, the recent revelations that abound within its own house are anathema to their rather specious panegyrists who feel no compunction in pointing fingers while masquerading as saviours.
NARENDH GANESH Durban North
WITH regard to the latest petrol price increase, it is time citizens said enough is enough.
Although with a hike in 52 cents a litre in fuel levy, this does not justify the increase in petrol by a massive 72 cents a litre. For many months the price of Brent crude oil has been trading relatively steadily at around $60 a barrel and the rand has strengthened considerably against the US dollar since the beginning of the year. I believe this should have offset the fuel levy announced in the budget.
The fuel price increase will again adversely affect every wage earner and increase the desperation among the millions of unemployed people.
The VAT increase coupled with the increase in fuel levy is exacerbating the dire situation the poor already face. What must be borne in mind is that every fuel price increase erodes the subsistence level of the indigent.
When we see service delivery protests, they are not about food costs, but about water, electricity and other government services.
But we will now see more overt