If we end up with an ANC-EFF coalition, blame it on the DA

"If the DA won't assist us to stay in power, then we'll stay in power with the wreckers of the EFF". Anything to stay in power, even wrecking the country. This column is the best advertisement I have yet seen for kicking out the unprincipled ANC.

When the ANC gets less than 50% Ramaphosa will have an excuse to retire to his farm and the gangster Mashatile will take over. Our Paul will have no problems with an EFF or MK coalition. Hardly the DA's fault, Melanie.

Disappointed in Melanie for this clearly personal 'opinion', and also in DM for posting it. I sincerely hope this isn't the start of DM's regression into a click-bait type of cheap journalism?

How much more humbled must one be to maintain a civilised and ethical Democracy? If lack of humility is what the DA is being criticised for then we really have lost hope!

My summary, after reading the article and comments, is that there are some kortbroeke out there. True leadership is in short supply. We are witnessing the beginning of a happy phase in the history of the country.

The DA has (or more likely had) a wonderful opportunity to become a main, or the main political force in SA. However brilliant Steenhuisen is - and the above article suggests he makes some poor choices of words - surely the DA should understand that it will NOT win black voter support currently with ANY white leader . Maybe only in another 25 years - if in this 21st century - will black voters trust a white political leader of any calibre for obvious historical reasons. Whether voters can be blamed for reverse racism and ignorance or not and whether they therefore deserve to be ruled by an inept and corrupt party, it is a political fact. Politics is about reality as well as ideals. Therefore, start with reality instead of telling the electorate they are ignorant. There are some quite brilliant black politicians within the DA and yet Steenhuisen seems to put his own ego and personal leadership in front of what is needed for South Africa. In the face of the ANC's proven ineptness to govern for 3 decades, most black voters will still prefer it to a white led DA with the above article suggesting this is still 40%. Pity the country's loss for one man's ego and the lost opportunity for another 5 year term of corruption and incompetence.

If The Daily Maverick was permanently blacked out, how we would miss Verwoed's insights and wisdom!

Might there be a link between DM's existential crisis and the quality of some of its contributors? Writing as a paying subscriber, the extreme variability of DM's journalism does test one's patience and resolve... If DM wants to survive, it needs to address this matter urgently, taking a leaf from News24's book on quality and focus, perhaps? And letting go some of the very limited contributors.

The ANC has pioneered the business model of turning votes into private wealth by means of manipulated tenders, using BEE as their protective umbrella. The EFF in turn has emulated this - after all, Malema learned this directly from his erstwhile mentor Zuma. When the EFF says they will enter a national coalition with the ANC on condition that they get to run the finance ministry and SARS - what does that tell you ? Not the housing department so they can build the houses they promise people - no, they want the money. And the PA says they'll enter municipal coalitions on condition that they control the finances and tenders, what does that tell you ? This then is the key problem in trying to form "stable" coalitions with parties like these - have you ever heard the saying "no honour amongst thieves" ? That is why the ANC/EFF/PA and other dubious coalitions do not last - because at some point there is a disagreement over who gets to steal what. There is no common ground between these parties except looting the public purse, so they never resolve their differences for the greater good. Because the greater good was never part of their equation. In light of this, how do you expect the DA to form a coalition with partners whom they know is intent only on looting ? Your misdirection is both obvious and tedious but my larger question is always how people like you, that have been so absolutely complicit in looting our country, manage to sleep at night.

This article contains a lot of sense about coalitions. I am surprised by the many negative and even angry reactions. Having lived for over half my life in a region constantly governed by coalitions - Scandinavia - there is much to learn. As the largest opposition party, it is indeed the DA's obligation to set the tone for coalitions and this HAS TO include working constructively, amicably and with humility, with partners who have some standpoints one dislikes, even deeply. Such as perhaps the PA. If not, the ANC will never , NEVER be removed. The DA does often shoot itself on the foot due to these attitudes. both Zille and Steenhuizen - his remarks about these new parties coming to the Western Cape were shockingly arrogant and destroy coalition efforts. I don't think Melanie's article is primarily anti-DA, it contains a pertinent warning to them (and others). And attacks on where she herself "comes from"- ad hominem - are unhelpful. Coalitions? There is a lot needing to be learned, and FAST please!

"a sense of humbleness — something the DA is not known for." More than a hint of projection there. Her apparently ex-employers aren't famous for their humility. It's weird how most of what she rails about the DA being guilty of could easily be describing the ANC who loot like world champs while about it. When reading this stuff it's worth remembering that people like the author bear some of the responsibility for the state we find ourselves in after 30 years of ANC hegemony.

There are many truths as much as many inaccuracies. Whilst I do concur that the DA made terrible howlers in allowing future leaders such as Mbali Ntuli, Lindiwe Mazibuko and many others to be alienated by internal archaic DA politics the balance of the commentary is fairly skewed and does not present a balanced view. Without descending into politics SA, its voters and its allegedly elected leaders will be presented with two choices: rekindle the rainbow nation spirit which saw the country avoid a civil war with no winners or stare down the barrel of political dispossession and greater racial intolerance. Unfortunately the EFF whilst appealing to many dispossessed voters offers very little if anything in the form of realisable programmes to emancipate those who are living in utter squalor. Neither does the DA nor does the ANC. What is required is a realisable plan where a horizon in placed on when targets and KPIs are to be met. SA needs a programme, not words and vacuous promises, where we set realistic targets to reduce unemployment, provide a decent standard of living for an increasing number of our population, provide a decent education etc etc. There is certainly a will and many of the chasms between private sector and civil service, between employers and unions are created by self serving leaders who have no other interest either than themselves A programme like this will require brave choices and trade-offs which feeds into some of the comments in this article. Don't blame the opposition for the dire state of SA, blame the party whom you allegedly served and its leaders who think of nothing more either than themselves. Mandela was a great unifying leader, Mbeki a pragmatist who made a few mistakes and that was the end of leadership for a span of 10 years. Denying that under the current leadership there have been no wins is not looking at facts. Sure there could have been many more and there have also been many losses however the rate of change and progress needs to be understood within the context of having to change the mentality of an organisation founded on archaic Stalinist/Leninist ideals to one favouring more of a social democracy. It is unhelpful at best to ignore realities of the majority of voters in SA many of whom do not have the privilege of a decent roof over their heads, running water, a waterborne sewerage system, electricty or mobile data serving their dwellings. The focus on everyone's programmes should be how do we improve those lives and not how do we get those people to vote for me.

Dear Melanie, I am puzzled that prospective investors consult you to help them decide about risking their money here. You as an ANC cadre should be known to seriously lack good judgement as is suggested by you still being aligned with the ANC in spite of their criminal objectives and actions. What can you offer investors to encourage investment if your buddies are destroying our country and discouraging investments.

I've always been a DA supporter but Steenhuizen gives me the creeps, and why doesnt the DA have a black leader? By now it should have attracted enough supporters to move away from its "white colonial" image. It has to take the blame for that. The article is right; except in the Western Cape the DA is looking increasingly redundant

What a crock of sh!t. Melanie and other ANC cheerleaders want the DA in a coalition with the ANC , when they undoubtedly lose the upcoming election, because they think the ANC has a better chance of raping the DA than they do the EFF

Its all the DAs fault Melanie ,in fact they have put the country in the mess its been since 1994 . The glorious ANC liberation has been deliberatly scuttled by the DA , as the EFF appeared on the scene the DA was again on hand to fool the voters , in fact State capture and failing munipalities all over the country has been engineered by Helen Zille ! Thanks fo enlightening Melaine, me as I vote for the DA again !

DA, ANC, pick a party; there is no discernible difference. Their inner circle will benefit by a win, but will you? NO. This fact has been proven globally for decades. That the focus of the comments is on the author’s partisanship is bizarre; clearly, that is what one does in this phase of electioneering. However, when the comments place blame on the voters, that is a clear indication that the populace does not understand the responsibility of community in a democracy. It is up to each individual to consistently build a democratic society to ensure that all of the population benefits from the democratic state. That starts with education. The fact that the populace still votes for the ANC is due to the poverty of education. I have not seen any massive protests or drives by the population demanding a free and fair education system for all. Nope, what I do see is the discord between the paring of capitalism (corrupt centralised gain) and democracy (spread the blame). To blame the indigent illiterate is to blame those with the least agency. In South Africa, with our 11 official languages, most of the populace does not even understand the language in which the issues are debated, let alone the issues themselves. They are simply fed snake oil and t-shirts. No, dear fellows, it is the privileged few whose comfort and convenience stem from a dead system that has brought about this situation, including the unfortunate head-boy of the DA.

It's distasteful articles like this that can put me off again with the DM

Thank you Mthokozisi Nkosi for your comments, journalists are very happy to bring up unfortunate social media comments and make them the heroes of the story rather than the amazing good that ALL THE OTHER DA POLITICIANS are doing within the party on municipal and provincial level. I guess Verwoed is not a DA supporter. John Steenhuisen is not perfect, but in today's age of 'me,me,me' he and Helen Zille have held the discipline of all DA politicians to great effect. The DA politicians know their direction and what they have to achieve and they have certainly done this in the WC. This is an incredible feat in the chaos of the 21st century, when social media commentary for journalists seems to be their measure of the story, rather than the actual achievements of service delivery. The DA under John Steenhuisen has individual discipline that no other party of similar size in SA has managed in this upcoming and past elections. This is what you should be telling your overseas investors. This is a skill that few leaders have. JHB was not a fight they could win, aligning themselves with a criminal, which is what Gayton McKenzie is, is what should worry investors. 'Let it rather burn' reference to JHB are your words and they are inflammatory at best. An ANC/EFF coalition will be the voters fault, no one else's. If people do not want to vote for the DA when they are clearly delivering services, should maybe question their own racial prejudice.

The current DA brings to mind the old United Party under Sir De Villiers Graaf, who helped keep the Nats in power through five elections.

The ANC-EFF are already in convenient coalitions - just look at the mess they are creating of Johannesburg. If the elections results in another ANC-EFF coalition, it means the people have spoken and they are happy to give away their rights in a slow spiral into populist chiefdom. We cannot save SA if the majority of South Africans keep supporting the people robbing them. Don't blame the DA for that, and don't let minority parties off the hook because they are choosing their own stomachs over the clear bigger threat of ANC-EFF politics.

The DA have a reputation (partly earned in COJ) as being turncoats. And they got that the old fashioned way, by working hard at it. So I understand the reluctance to enter into any sort of pact with them. The DA thought that they had, and that deal kept Mpho Phalatse afloat for a while. But meantime the PA were shopping around seeing where they could get a better deal. Once they agreed with the ANC that Kenny Kunene would be deputy mayor, they turned their backs on the people that had regarded them as allies.

The latest SRF poll has ANC on 37%, MK 13%, DA 25%, EFF 11%, IFP 5%, ActionSA and FF+ on 2%, margin of error ±2.2%. Still enough time before the election for this to turn out to be way out. Rise Mzansi, for example have a strong volunteer base, which could give them momentum not yet showing in the polls, and MK could be scoring from all the publicity around Zuma’s lawfare (talk about unintended consequences…). However, going with these numbers, the easiest path to stable government is ANC+DA. ANC+MK could scrape just over 50% (noting margin of error in the poll could push this either way). ANC+EFF would require at least one more partner. EFF+MK=24%, 26% short, which they can’t make up without the DA or ANC. No purely opposition combination – on these numbers – looks viable. DA can’t partner with either EFF or MK without losing all credibility, given their previous utterances. That leaves 39% for DA and DA-amenable opposition; you are not going to make up 11% unless there is a very big swing not yet in the numbers. But the election is still a long way off, so I wouldn’t be placing any bets yet. Ramaphosa, Zuma and Malema are all very skilled politicians who know how to win with their bases. DA has a track record of shooting itself in the foot. But when I talk to people (from a wide circle of demographics), I detect a very different mood so things could turn out … interesting.

It is exactly because of Steenhuizen and Zille's leadership that I don't want to vote DA. They're a discredit to leaders like Alan Winde and Christopher Pappas, who I would vote for in a heartbeat.

Agree 100% with Melanie's sentiment. Much can be said about voters get who they deserve, the DA leadership is problematic, etc. etc. I am a South African, I reside here and I don't plan to move anytime soon. For me, as a South African, I would want to know that things will be alright after the elections, that my assets and safety will be secure and that the country will still function more or less normal. I cannot see how this will be the case with an ANC-EFF coalition. And I don't have the luxury to adopt the DA's strategy of 'let it burn, we'll pick up the pieces'. The DA might have reservations of going into a coalition with the ANC and that they may lose support, but I'm almost certain that the majority of DA supporters will welcome this action - they may even win over more support. Even better, if the DA can shake off their superiority complex and demand an ANC-MPC coalition, I will have even more hope for our future. Steenhuisen is simply not the right leader to take the DA forward - we need someone with more sophistication, diplomacy, even-temperedness and political clout to charter a way forward. The ANC might be a monumental stuff-up, but they are far more palatable than the EFF or MK.

What is it that they keep on shooting themselves in the foot? And, give reasonable responses and solutions, without fetting hysterical, but rather calm and measured. There is no need to be confrontational, but rather there are times to concede and compromise.

I fully agree with Melanie!! I’m not sure in who I am the most disappointed. The ANC for dragging the country into the mess it is in, or the DA as the main opposition party for its inability to take advantage of a bad governing party…

A significant majority of comments under this article seem to ignore the fact that it is an Opinionista piece and that the Daily Maverick credits us (very mistakenly it would seem) with the intelligence to realise that we ALL need to be exposed to DIFFERENT opinions. Threatening to stop reading the DM (how much you must tremble at the thought), to resort to the personal comments you object to in the piece, to bring up history that you dont want in the article, all this must make you, the editor, despair. Please keep such pieces coming DM, for the sake of fighting off the echo chamber.

How outrageous that someone from the ANC is trying to accuse anyone else of not having humbleness! And then to seek to blame the DA for an ANC-EFF coalition, instead of the ANC itself who would have to agree to the coalition in the first place! What a joke.

It's clear from some of Melanie's recent articles that she is not objective and has an unhealthy bias which has no place in an indepedent publication.

I think our elections are unfortunately as much a case of who you are voting against, as who you are voting for. You have to look past lesser flaws to reap greater benefits. However, going into coalition with some of the parties trying to hitch a ride, would be like marrying a drunk you picked up in the railway hotel in some town off the beaten track, the morning after. The DA are quite correct in maintaining their standards. Or else it would be a mistake in judgment to vote for them.

South Africa lacks a decent Statesman. Clearly Ramaphosa isn't one, but alas, neither is Steenhuisen, and Malema is simply a thug. As much as I would like the DA to be the next governing party, its leadership needs a serious revamp. The opportunities that they've been given by Zuma, Ramaphosa and the rest of the ANC imbeciles should have placed them in the pound seats by now. But instead of using the ANC missteps to their advantage, they whine and bicker amongst themselves. For goodness sake people, give the younger generation a chance. For example, Mr Hill-Lewis clearly has the sort of intellect required to run the DA. Alas, Mr Steenhuisen equally clearly does not.

I agree completely. The DA leadership of today is as weak and compromised as the ANC & EFF. Why such a leadership was elected does not reflect well on the DA as a party. On top of that, you have the voters, apparently blinkered and tone-deaf, who simply cannot vote for anyone but the ANC.

I'd pay to put Melanie behind a paywall (again)...

I wonder why some people seem to be hellbent on forcing DA to form a coalition government with the ANC. DA made it clear, not once, that it will not form a coalition government with the ANC. RSA is a free country with freedom of association, so if DA does not want to be associated with the ANC so be it. If the ANC wants to associate herself with the EFF, so be it. And please stop with fear mongering, boogeyman and doomsday alert.

Poor Melanie is unhappy as her old party is falling apart. Too right the DA did not want to go into a coalition with the PA - it is headed by a crook - they would have got nothing done as the PA would hold them to ransom as they do in other areas.

I read the following and despair at the poverty of political analysis in SA. Surely you can do better than this in setting your stage. It is intellectually shallow name calling "One cannot ignore the shortcomings of the current DA leadership in this regard. Apart from the well-known Helen Zille colonialism debacle, it seems that John Steenhuisen is particularly tone-deaf when it comes to gender and racial sensitivities."

Daily Maverick needs to move on from articles by Melanie Verwoerd. She is a former ANC MP - that says it all!

Melanie, start DOING SOMETHING and stop TELLING everyone how to do it right. So easy to sit on the side and throw stones. Get involved and get your hands dirty, sweat a bit, but actually create something. You have massive tallent and interlect, but have not done anything concrete since working for the governing party. Don't let that be your only legacy.

Melanie never misses an opportunity to put the blame on the DA's doorstep. Sure, Melanie, the DA may have refused a new coalition with the PA last year (not 2022 as is stated in your article), but you conveniently forgot to add who voted with the ANC/EFF to remove Mpho Phalatse as mayor in the first place? Regarding Johannesburg specifically - on one hand you say its a mess (which it is) and the DA and minority parties refused to work together to fix it, and on the other hand you moan because the DA isn't keen on working with the ANC. Circling back to hand one - who exactly is to blame for the mess Joburg is in?

I wonder why some people seem to be hellbent on forcing DA to form a coalition government with the ANC. DA made it clear, not once, that it will not form a coalition government with the ANC. RSA is a free country with freedom of association, so if DA does not want to be associated with the ANC so be it. If the ANC wants to associate herself with the EFF, so be it. And please stop with fear mongering, boogeyman and doomsday alert.

Maybe the author should read DM's own assessment of the PA's manifesto before chiding the DA for refusing to work with them... The DA has no obligation to work with bad actors. If we vote those bad actors into power, that's nobody's fault but ours

Verwoerd is shoveling as much dirt and personal animosity as possible onto DAs doorstep. That’s fine, I’m sure they’ll rip her goading apart by themselves. However, she oversteps her crystal ball gazing of a blooming city, suggesting that having the PA as a crucial partner in the DA-led coalition in Joburg would’ve saved the City; certainly not. Purple unicorn. The PA are extortionists and would’ve collapsed the DA-led city government by playing them off with ANC-led blackmail at the drop of an envelope. Verwoerd suggests the DA must play ball with a loaded PA gun and that they must just do it “for Joburg” or “for the country”. That’s really a very naïve argument to make and I’d suggest more contemplation on this. Hitler would not have become German chancellor with 23% had the SPD party properly thought through their support that they can “control” the Nazis. They should’ve stepped aside and said no.

I don't know what substances you are abusing that so badly affect your mind, but I would really love some for when I need to deal with my own failure. It seems you have drunk very deeply of the African Kool-Aid, you know the one, the one that says if you deny your failure it never happened, the one that says if you fail always blame someone else, the one that preaches African excellence despite the mountains of evidence proving African incompetence, the one that trumpets South African progress in the face of South African collapse, the one that lionises having more people receiving grants than what work and the one where your opinions are actually significant and meaningful as opposed to being trashy propagandist drivel. DM fire this lunatic pseudo-intellectual turncoat.

I agree with Jason van Wyngaard

Lol. DA is not the problem. The voters are. The voters openly support ANC, and now MK despite Zuma's track record. The voters want corruption and incompetence.

Only in South Africa do you find competence derided as arrogance.

Lol, the words from a politician from a party who raped my country. Your opinion should not count for anything.

1. "the quality of the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) leadership" - at least 100 x better than Melanie's anc, the eff, pa and most other parties in SA. 2. DA leadership vetoed coalition with FF+ PA - does anyone know what gayton was demanding for his support? Probably control of certain budgets so he could manage tenders . . . 3. I do agree that DA HAS to learn humbleness. And, do whatever's necessary to keep eff out of governing coalitions. 4."The reference to a shebeen leaves little doubt about the racial undertone of his comment"- so what? were there any white crime wardens??? not racist, FACT! 5. but only because they want to steal money. - Aint that the truth! A very anti DA biased piece of writing Mel, maybe you could acknowledge that the anc, pa etc also have to be humble. So the DA shouldn't ask for the DP position in a national coalition with the anc, but it's ok for the anc to give Jhb's mayorship to a party with only a seat or two???

John Steenhuisen is not a well polished leader. He lacks emotional intelligence and is a very bad diplomat. That's why he could not read good leadership skills Julius Malema has because he was blinded by emotions. Malema showed diplomacy by voting DA into power in those metros such as Johannesburg. And this also showed that Malema genuinely wanted a corrupt free, effective political partner who can deliver a good governance. And he saw that in DA. Steenhuisen is making a big blunder by declaring EFF "enemy number one" and decided to form coalitions with parties that have no value. That's very poor deplomacy because more that 10% of South Africans view Malema is their president and as a result he will loose 10 millions votes that EFF was willing to donate to him. We wanted a president who will unite South Africa not someone who has declared his fellow 10 million South Africans as "enemies". That's appalling! Believe me I'm not an EFF supporter and I reject EFF's Marxism ideology but the most important thing that Malema has Julius Malema is that he has a flexible mind. I believe the worst thing that can ever happen to man is to be someone who cannot be advised and Malema is not that kind of person. The ANC managed to dissolve Hendrick Verwoerd's National Party is because it's leaders were well polished diplomats. Something DA's leader lacks severely.