In the last few weeks and months, the DA in the Western Cape has been taking a pounding, yet its WC leadership seems to be in total denial.
A few very recent quick ones…
The new DA mayor of Cederberg was helped into position in a selfless act by the FF+.
The DA leadership in Knysna was tossed out by the ANC.
Alan Winde is exposed for living for free in a R177 million estate, in excessive luxury with an annual salary of R2.3 million plus free water, electricity, not paying rates and taxes, and so on, at tax payers expense.
DA led coalitions are crumbling and being accused of “arrogance” as being the reason.
DA leaders are leaving the party and joining other parties one after the other.
DA leaders being caught on corruption, sexual harassment and other allegations.
The DA led “Western Cape Devolution Working Group” has been blown out of the water by national government and their allies, in less time than Liz Truss was Prime minister of the UK.
FF plus THE RISING STAR IN THE WC?
As the past local elections showed, particularly Coloured communities but also English speaking white voters are switching their support away from the DA to other parties, most notably to the FF+ and to a few other smaller “pro-independence” parties.
Anecdotal evidence since then indicates strongly that this trend is accelerating strongly, with DA by-election victories being almost impossible without selfless help from the FF+.
WHILE THE DA FALTERS?
The DA continues to renege on its promise to table a private members bill to update the law on referendums for it to be brought inline with the Constitution. Something they should have done 20 years ago, and which the promised to do more than a year ago… not good !
In April a letter on behalf of over 800.000 registered citizens of the WC, was handed to a representative of Alan Winde on the steps to his office in Cape Town with over 1000 citizens in attendance, requesting a referendum on independence and asking him to confirm receipt.
To this day, not a word in reply has been forthcoming from Premier Winde.
… And the list goes on and on
IGNORING THE ELECTORATE
More than half of the WC electorate is crying for independence, or at least for holding a referendum on the matter, and yet the DA continues to ignore what once was their core support base…
The word “betrayal” is being heard more frequently, along with allegations of “arrogance”, to the extent that Helen Zille publicly went on the defensive denying such claims flooding in from many quarters.
McKenzie of the PA asked “why is it that Where the DA governs in coalition, it collapses?” He went on to say that only the FF+ put the coalition first and did the best thing for the coalition succeed.
Certainly a question worth considering and something to think about for Hellen Zille and her team.
KICKING THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD
Horror of horrors, even potholes and broken fences are reappearing in DA governed towns, the uncontrolled explosion of informal settlements, crime, poverty and misery continues to grow rapidly in the Western Cape, while the DA looks on helplessly unable to correct things by refusing to take the necessary single first step on the road to turning everything around within the Western Cape…. namely:
Submitting the private members bill as promised more than a year ago.
“PRIDE COMES BEFORE THE FALL”
(The Bible, Book of Proverbs 16:18)
A fall seems to be unfolding for the DA under the very eyes of the citizens who voted them into power in the Western Cape, yet they don’t want to see it.
Contrary to expectations, the DA is increasingly being seen as a “white” party, and no longer the “only suitable party” for the Western Cape.
The FF+ on the other hand, is increasingly being recognised as the party seeking true self determination for all of the people of the Western Cape, where coloured, white, Indian and Asian citizens make up 70% of the population.
NOTHING FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH
Just as other parties incorrectly and maliciously try to create the impression that the DA is a “White” party, so do they incorrectly try to paint the FF+ as an “Afrikaner” party, both of which may have been partly true two decades ago.
Today, nothing can be further from the truth in both instances, although it must be said, that the most widely spoken language in the WC is in fact, Afrikaans.
IS THE FF+ THE CAPE’S RISING STAR?
Is the WC Freedom Front Plus the party that will save the Western Cape, the better party to represent all Kaapenaars ?
It certainly looks like it, and more and more seem to think so. There’s even a strong clue in its name.
HAS THE DA TAKEN ITS EYE OFF THE BALL IN THE WC?
While the DA has achieved many good things in the WC, and richly deserved the support it had in the past, it seems to have taken its eye off the ball in the Province, while desperately focusing on wanting to play in the national arena, where a coalition post 2024 will almost certainly not happen without the ANC.
DA DREAMS OF AN ANC COALITION
According to Helen Zille on BizTech a few months ago, and widely reported on, she explained her vision of joining the ANC in a national coalition.
Yet the DA merrily forms coalitions to remove the ANC from power, a noble cause, but one that isn’t working, one that certainly doesn’t go down well in the WC and one that doesn’t sound sincere given Zille’s dreams.
A national ANC/DA coalition could happen, but more likely is an ANC/EFF coalition or one with the IFP, Action SA, the PA, ACDP or many other options.
None however without the corrupt and incompetent ANC, who will chose their “junior partner” and keep them impotent.
IS THE WC DISPENSABLE FOR THE DA?
That leaves the WC exactly where it is, on the downward slope to nowhere good.
Is it HERO to ZERO for the DA? I hope not!!
and
ZERO to HERO for FF+? We’ll see.
WHERE TO FROM HERE?
If there’s one thing we’ve learned, “absolute power corrupts absolutely” and it also applies to the DA in the Western Cape, as it does universally.
The ideal situation would be a strong and stable WC coalition for real change, between the DA and the FF+ post 2024.
A coalition that cares about and listens to the “Will of the people” it serves in the Western Cape.
We could be in for a big surprise post 2024, which could finally lead the Western Cape to freedom from the quagmire in which it finds itself, under steady guidance and the political maturity of the FF+
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Andy Winsauer is a retired director of various leading international Companies based in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and South Africa, and until recently director of the largest pro-independence civic movement in South Africa, Capexit npc. After many published articles and public interviews, he has decided to focus on independently reporting as “A Voter’s Voice” on developments in the Western Cape.
