Jaspreet Kindra
It’s official! The Democratic Alliance and the Inkatha Freedom Party are talking to each other at the highest level.
Underscoring the fact that they are pondering a relationship, IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi and the DA’s Tony Leon are to address a joint meeting of councillors in Durban today.
In a letter to all regional leaders in KwaZulu-Natal last week, the DA’s provincial chairperson, Mike Ellis, said the meeting formed part of the party’s strategy of “exploring and expanding relationships” with various non-African National Congress parties.
Observers in the province believe the emerging relationship between the two parties may explain why the DA backtracked on its motion to vote for Pietermaritzburg as the seat of the legislature two weeks ago. The IFP is adamant Ulundi must be the capital.
A national strategy document, arguing that the DA should become an alternative government rather than a watchdog opposition, accompanies the letter. To establish itself as an alternative, the party needs to win the support of between 30% and 35% of the electorate over the next seven years. For the plan to succeed, the ANC’s share of the national vote has to fall below 50% and the DA has to find partners with which it is willing to form a government and the document identifies independents such as the IFP and the United Christian Democratic Party as possible partners. It points out that “an element of pragmatism is necessary in order to win and maintain power. This does not mean that our values and principles would need to be discarded, but it does imply a kind of flexibility that is not necessary if power is not a consideration”.
The view was reiterated by a senior DA member who, however, voiced caution about the IFP: “How do we know that they are not using us to twist the ANC’s arm?”
The document emphasises that the challenge for the DA is to build identification with black South Africans while retaining the loyalty of minorities. It also provides insight into what it perceives as the ANC’s strategy in dealings with other parties “cooption, demonisation or dismissal”.
It is unclear what effect the meeting will have on the findings of the ad hoc committee charged with recommending a single site for the KwaZulu- Natal legislature by May 31.