Democratic Alliance (South Africa)
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| Democratic Alliance | |
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| Leader | Tony Leon |
| Founded | 24 June 2000 |
| Headquarters | 5th Floor, Ruskin House 2 Roeland Street Cape Town |
| Political ideology | Liberalism |
| International affiliation | Liberal International |
| Website | http://www.da.org.za |
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is a liberal South African political party, and the official opposition to the ruling African National Congress. It was formed when the Democratic Party entered into a short-lived alliance with the New National Party in 2000.
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[edit] History and origins
Although the Democratic Alliance in its present form is fairly new, its roots can be traced far back in South African political history, through a complex sequence of splits and mergers.
(1st ancestor party 1910-34): The South African Party won the first general election in the Union of South Africa in 1910.
(2nd ancestor party 1934-59): The National Party and the South African Party entered into a coalition, which led to the creation of a merged United Party in 1934. This party included both liberal and conservative elements. The United Party continued to exist after 1959 and was the source of several breakaway groups which merged with later ancestor parties.
(3rd ancestor party 1959-75): The Progressive Party, was founded in 1959 when liberal members seceded from the United Party. They could not agree with the inability of the UP to present an alternative to the National Party's apartheid policy. The PP emphasised constitutional reform, a Bill of Rights, an independent judiciary and the evolution towards federalism. These reform propoals were combined with advocacy of a free market economy. In 1961 only Helen Suzman was elected in parliament. For 13 years she was the only opponent of racial discrimination and other apartheid regime's abuses in the whites-only parliament, fighting against detention without trial, pass laws, influx control etc. From 1971 Colin Eglin was the party leader, without being a member of parliament himself. In 1974 the party won 7 seats.
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(4th ancestor party 1975-77): In 1975 the party merged with the Reform Party, a breakaway party of the United Party, forming the Progressive Reform Party.
(5th ancestor party 1977-89): Two years later dissident UP members formed the Committee for a United Opposition, that joined the PRP to form the Progressive Federal Party. The PFP drew support mainly from liberal English-speaking white South Africans, as owing to South Africa's apartheid laws, its membership was limited to the country's whites. The PFP was derided by right-wing whites, who claimed its initials stood for 'Packing for Perth', on account of the many white liberal supporters of the 'Progs' who were emigrating to Australia.
Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, PFP leader since 1979, resigned from parliament in 1986 because it had, in his view, become irrelevant. Later he formed the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for South Africa (IDASA). He was succeeded by Colin Eglin. The PFP was ousted as the official opposition by the far-right Conservative Party in the whites-only parliamentary elections held on 6 May 1987. This electoral blow led many of the PFP's leaders to question the value of participating in the whites-only parliament, and some of its MPs left to join the National Democratic Movement. In 1987, shortly before the elections, the Independent Party of Denis Worrall was also formed, further splitting the liberal opposition.
[edit] Democracy
(6th ancestor party 1989-2000): After the 1987 elections, the new PFP leader Zach de Beer concluded negotiations with the IP and the NDM to merge into the Democratic Party in 1989, and proceeded to win 36 seats in the elections that year. The DP played a vital role in the negotiation of an interim constitution which includes most of the original progressive principles and ideals. In the 1994 general election, the first after apartheid was abolished, the party won only 1.7% of the vote and 10 seats in parliament. Nelson Mandela's eldest daughter Makaziwe and F. W. De Klerk's brother Willem (who was a co-founder of the party) voted for the Democratic Party in these elections.[1] Soon after the elections, De Beer was succeeded by Tony Leon, who emphasised the protection of human rights, federalism and free enterprise. The party improved its performance during the 1999 general election to receive 9.6% of the vote and 44 seats, replacing the New National Party as official opposition.
The DP merged with the NNP in 2000 to form the Democratic Alliance (DA). The much smaller Federal Alliance later also merged with the DA. The DA then formed the government of the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Following the elections of 2000 the DA polled 52.3% of the vote in Cape Town, sufficient to form the municipal government of the city. The DA also formed the government of several other towns in the Western Cape.
The brittle alliance lasted only until 2001, when the NNP left to form a new alliance with the African National Congress. With the departure of some NNP Members of the Western Cape Provincial Legislature, and of some NNP councillors, the DA lost its hold on most of the city councils of the Western Cape.
With the 2004 general election, both the DA and ANC increased their vote share, at the expense of other opposition parties. The DA won 12.4% of the votes and 50 seats, and remains the second largest political party in South Africa.
With the impending retirement of Tony Leon, leader since 1994, the party is facing a new era. Given his prominence and long tenure, the DA is closely identified with him. Given the politics of South Africa, the next party head must have qualities able to expand and maintain the base of the party. For the moment, the leading candidates to replace Leon are Cape Town mayor Helen Zille, Joe Seremane, Douglas Gibson and Athol Trollip, the Xhosa-speaking leader of the party in the Eastern Cape.
[edit] References
- ^ Martin Meredith; Nelson Mandela: A Biography.
[edit] See also
- Liberalism
- Contributions to liberal theory
- Liberalism worldwide
- List of liberal parties
- Liberal democracy
- Liberalism in South Africa
[edit] External links
- Democratic Alliance official site
- The Democratic Alliance Ethekwini-Durban Council Caucus official site
- Democratic Alliance for Mpumalanga official site
- Democratic Alliance Students' Organisation (University of Cape Town branch) blog
- Inside Politics DA Parliamentary Research Department blog
- Victims of Crime DA initiative
- DA Agriculture Matters official site
- Flag of the Democratic Alliance
| Political parties in South Africa |  |
| Parliament: ANC | DA | IFP | UDM | ID | ACDP | Vryheidsfront Plus | UCDP | PAC | MF | AZAPO |
