Africa-Press – South-Africa. DA leader John Steenhuisen has asked opposition parties that have not been open to the DA’s “moonshot pact” to put aside “petty differences” and work together to unseat the ANC.
He was speaking on Saturday during an update on the progress of the pact that he first announced in his victory speech three weeks ago, after he secured a second term as DA leader.
Like-minded opposition parties should form a pre-election pact in an effort to defeat the ANC/EFF “doomsday” coalition in the 2024 elections, Steenhuisen said.
He said he had reached out to 15 party leaders, not aligned to the ANC or EFF, to form part of the pact. He added that six parties, including the DA, had agreed to attend the national convention for the “moonshot pact”: IFP, ActionSA, National Freedom Party, Freedom Front Plus and the United Independent Movement.
News24 has previously reported that, while ActionSA had welcomed the idea of the “moonshot pact”, party leader Herman Mashaba had warned the DA about making it about their party or Steenhuisen making it about his leadership.
For a “grand coalition” to succeed in removing the ANC, parties should practice and maintain “mutual respect and humility”, he said, adding that all parties involved should be equals.
FF Plus MP Corne Mulder told News24 at the time: “I do not think that one single party should take the lead on such a process. Nobody wants to be led by the DA. Coalitions do not work that way. Nobody has the right to say in what way a coalition should go.
“In the past, we have heard people say that the DA is arrogant and it’s such behaviour that makes people say so.”
On Saturday, Steenhuisen expressed his disappointment that three parties – African Democratic Party, United Democratic Movement and new kid on the block Xiluva – had “rejected the plea for cooperation” in the pact.
He added:
“To those leaders who have said no to the pact, I ask that you unclench your fists so that we may take hands and work together.”
Steenhuisen also asked supporters and donors of these three parties to “use your voice to help encourage us all to unite in the interests of the country we all love”.
News24 reported earlier this month that the ACDP and UDM were opposed to the DA’s “Big Brother mentality” approach to the pact.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said that it was “not too late for the DA to reconsider its Big Brother mentality”, while ACDP deputy president Wayne Thring also said the party did not like the DA’s approach.
“Any opposition party[‘s] ‘moonshot’ political process that fails to be inclusive, to consult properly, and where one single party positions itself as superior to others, will be left hanging in space,” Thring said at the time.
Steenhuisen said he was yet to hear from the leaders of the African Independent Congress, African Transformation Movement, Abantu Batho Congress, Pan Africanist Congress, and Minority Front.
He added that Mmusi Maimane’s BOSA and Songezo Zibi from Rise Mzansi were still considering their responses.
However, News24 has seen a response by Maimane, dated 15 April and addressed to Steenhuisen, where he lists his party expectations in cooperating on any agreement ahead of the elections.
In his letter, Maimane said he had proposed an idea of a pact in November as a way “of offering South Africans a collective alternative to the status quo”.
He added that any pact had to have a “tangible alternative, with a vision and a credible offer of values-driven policy”, and that merely wanting to defeat the ANC and EFF was not that.
Maimane said BOSA would only consider working with parties which shared its values, and would not enter into any pre-election agreements with parties that mobilised on the basis of race, language, culture or religion.
“Only once we have agreement on this set of criteria can we move forward and coalesce in good faith around a shared vision to build one South Africa,” he wrote.
Steenhuisen said that, in the coming weeks, he would be meeting with leaders of parties that had responded positively to the idea of a pact.
“This will be an opportunity for us to forge the personal bonds we will need to work together, and to discuss any suggestions as well as reservations or concerns that may remain,” he said.
He added that he hoped the national convention for the moonshot pact would be held in this winter.
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