In 2021, then Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen signalled a notable shift in the party’s posture when he told the Sunday Times he would be open to working with a reformed African National Congress under Cyril Ramaphosa.
For a party whose identity had long been anchored in opposing the ANC and exposing its governance failures, this was more than a tactical remark — it marked the beginning of an ideological pivot.
For decades, the DA’s political brand rested on presenting itself as the principled alternative to the ANC. Steenhuisen’s comments suggested a willingness to trade that oppositional clarity for pragmatism, particularly in a context where electoral dominance by a single party was beginning to erode.
That shift came into sharper focus in the aftermath of the 2024 general election. Despite earlier denials, it emerged that the DA had been open to engagement with the ANC once it became clear that the ruling party had lost its outright majority.
This was a striking development, especially given the DA’s prior commitment to the Multi-Party Charter — an alliance with parties such as ActionSA, Freedom Front Plus and the Inkatha Freedom Party — explicitly aimed at unseating the ANC.
Ultimately, both the DA and ANC opted to enter a government of national unity (GNU), driven by a shared interest in stabilising governance across national, provincial and local spheres in the wake of hung results.
The logic was straightforward: cooperation between the two largest parties could provide the predictability that fragmented coalitions had failed to deliver.
However, as the country edges toward another local government election cycle, that logic appears increasingly unsettled.
Johannesburg’s governance crisis — characterised by six mayors in as many years, persistent corruption allegations, and deteriorating service delivery — has often been cited by the DA as evidence of the dangers of fragmented coalitions.
Helen Zille, now positioned as the DA’s mayoral candidate in Johannesburg, has reintroduced a more hardline stance. On a recent campaign trail, she ruled out any post-election coalition with the ANC, instead signalling a preference for working with smaller parties — including ActionSA — to secure control of the city.
This marks a clear departure from the DA’s recent embrace of big-party cooperation in the name of stability.
Zille has gone further, rhetorically grouping the ANC with the uMkhonto weSizwe Party and the Economic Freedom Fighters — parties the DA has consistently framed as destabilising forces.
There is an internal contradiction here that cannot be ignored.
Johannesburg’s governance crisis — characterised by six mayors in as many years, persistent corruption allegations and deteriorating service delivery — has often been cited by the DA as evidence of the dangers of fragmented coalitions.
The party has repeatedly argued, on principle, that small parties with marginal electoral mandates should not wield disproportionate power in determining who governs. At times, it has even described such arrangements as a subversion of democratic intent.
Yet Zille’s current strategy appears to rely precisely on this model.
If the DA’s national posture has shifted towards cooperation with the ANC to ensure stability, how does it reconcile that with a local strategy that depends on the very coalition dynamics it has long criticised?
Can a multi-party arrangement of eight or more partners realistically deliver the “stable Johannesburg” the DA promises? And crucially, does the party’s current leadership — including Geordin Hill-Lewis — align with Zille’s approach, or does this signal a deeper strategic divergence within the party?
These are not merely tactical questions; they go to the heart of the DA’s political identity.
The party now finds itself caught between pragmatism and principle, between its historical role as an anti-ANC watchdog and its emerging willingness to govern alongside it — or against it — depending on the electoral terrain.
Voters are being asked to trust that stability can be engineered through shifting alliances, yet the DA has not convincingly explained how its different approaches at national and local level cohere.
As Johannesburg heads towards another pivotal election, the focus should not rest solely on Zille’s track record or campaign rhetoric. It should be on whether the DA’s strategy is internally consistent — and whether its vision for governance is grounded in principle or expediency.
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