The success of the Democratic Alliance and its emergence as South Africa’s second-largest party is partly attributable to the fact that the New National Party, the architect party of apartheid, has embraced the liberation of all South Africans, said President Thabo Mbeki on Friday.
In his weekly internet letter, ANC Today, Mbeki said two objective factors have combined to bring about the DA victory — as the country’s second-largest party.
”One of these was the persisting conservatism of many among the white section of our population, making these susceptible to the traditional phobia of die swart gevaar [the black threat].”
The second is the fact that the NNP — which ruled South Africa from 1948 to 1994 — ”was engaged in a serious and determined effort to transform itself from a party of Afrikaner and white liberation into a new movement for the liberation of all South Africans”.
”Thus, as the DA correctly determined, the NNP had taken the remarkable and historic decision to abandon its post as the champion of white conservatism, and join the ranks of those who genuinely seek the radical and fundamental change the DA falsely claims to support.”
In the April election, the DA — led by Tony Leon — emerged with just more than 12% of the vote, retaining its position as official opposition. It had received 9,5% in 1999. The African National Congress gained nearly 70% of the vote. — I-Net Bridge