Democratic Alliance (South Africa)

Democratic Alliance
AbbreviationDA
Federal LeaderJohn Steenhuisen
Federal ChairpersonIvan Meyer
Deputy Federal ChairpersonsJP Smith
Solly Malatsi
Anton Bredell
Federal Council ChairpersonHelen Zille[1]
Deputy Federal Council ChairpersonsAshor Sarupen
Annelie Lotriet
Thomas Walters
Founded24 June 2000; 24 years ago (2000-06-24)
Preceded byDemocratic Party
New National Party
Federal Alliance
Student wingDemocratic Alliance Students Organisation[2]
Youth wingDA Youth[3]
Women's wingDA Women’s Network[4]
Overseas wingDA Abroad[5]
Ideology
Political positionCentre[A]
International affiliationLiberal International
Continental affiliationAfrica Liberal Network
Colours  Blue
SloganFreedom, Fairness, Opportunity and Diversity
National Assembly
87 / 400
NCOP
21 / 90
Pan African Parliament
1 / 5
SADC Parliamentary Forum
1 / 6
Provincial Legislatures
89 / 487
Cape Town City Council
135 / 231
Website
da.org.za
^ A: It is attributed to both centre-left and centre-right policies and is often described with either label.

The Democratic Alliance is a South African political party which is a part of the current South African Government of National Unity (GNU) together with the African National Congress (ANC), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), and several others. The party has been the second-largest in South Africa since its foundation in 2000. The party is broadly centrist,[8][9] and has been attributed both centre-left[10] and centre-right[11][12][13] policies. It is a member of Liberal International and the Africa Liberal Network. The DA traces its roots to the founding of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party in 1959, with many mergers and name changes between that time and the present. The DA has a variety of ideologically liberal[14] tendencies, including neoliberalism,[15] social liberalism,[16] classical liberalism,[16] and conservative liberalism.[17][18] The party draws its support predominantly from Afrikaans and English speakers, people aged over 35, and white South Africans, as well as the Indian and Coloured communities.[19][20]

The current leader of the party is John Steenhuisen, who was announced as the new leader on 1 November 2020 after the party's Federal Congress. He had previously acted as the interim leader of the party from November 2019 to November 2020.[21] Helen Zille is chairperson of both the Federal Council and the Federal Executive, the highest decision-making structures of the party.[22]

In aftermath of the 2024 general election, the DA entered into a ruling grand coalition with the ANC and various other parties, called a government of national unity, formed between ten parties with jointly 287 seats in the House of Assembly (72%).[23][24] The DA also governs several major metropolitan municipalities and has governed the Western Cape, one of South Africa's nine provinces, since the 2009 general election.

  1. ^ Manyathela, Clement. "Helen Zille is the new DA Federal Council chair". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Students Organisation". www.da.org.za. Democratic Alliance. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  3. ^ "DA Youth". www.da.org.za. Democratic Alliance. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  4. ^ "DA Women's Network". www.da.org.za. Democratic Alliance. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  5. ^ "DA Abroad". www.da.org.za. Democratic Alliance. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  6. ^ Cuthberg, Mat (5 May 2024). "A revitalised, nonracial DA is set to catch voters". Democratic Alliance.
  7. ^ "South Africa's opposition vows anti-corruption fight". Deutsche Welle. 23 February 2019.
  8. ^ Ibrahim Abraham, ed. (2021). Race, Class and Christianity in South Africa: Middle-Class Moralities. Routledge. ISBN 9781000426809.
  9. ^ Bertus de Villiers; Joseph Marko; Francesco Palermo; Sergiu Constantin, eds. (2021). Litigating the Rights of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples in Domestic and International Courts. BRILL. p. 60. ISBN 9789004461666. As a political force the Afrikaans community in the 2019 general election principally supported two political parties at a national level, the centrist Democratic Alliance and the conservative Freedom Front Plus (Saba 2019).
  10. ^ Focus on Gordhan and Manuel, John Matisonn, 29 April 2009, "Many DA policies are to the left of Cope [itself a centre-right party]"
  11. ^ A critique of the Democratic Alliance Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Frans Cronje, South African Institute of Race Relations, november 2008 "...the DA whose centre-right position in South African politics could now face a credible challenge for the first time"
  12. ^ Gbadamosi, Nosmot (15 August 2024). "What to Watch in South Africa's Election". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  13. ^ "South Africa: Strange noises in the cabinet | Lowy Institute". www.lowyinstitute.org. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  14. ^ Letita Rohanlall (2014). "Party Ideology in South Africa" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  15. ^ Bond, Patrick (1 March 2011). "South African splinters: from 'elite transition' to 'small-a alliances'". Review of African Political Economy. 38 (127): 119, 114–117. doi:10.1080/03056244.2011.552690. hdl:10.1080/03056244.2011.552690. ISSN 0305-6244.
  16. ^ a b Yusuf Sayed and Robert Van Niekerk (9 June 2023). "Ideology and the good society in South Africa: the education policies of the Democratic Alliance" (PDF). Southern African Review of Education, 23 (1): 52–69. ISSN 1563-4418.
  17. ^ Pather, Raeesa (24 October 2019). "Will the DA survive Mmusi Maimane's resignation?". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 14 July 2021. Zille...is seen as representing a conservative-liberal grouping within the DA.
  18. ^ "South Africa's Democratic Alliance Weathers Twitter Scandal | Council on Foreign Relations". www.cfr.org.
  19. ^ "The supporter profiles of SA's three largest parties". Politicsweb. Ipsos. 5 February 2014. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016.
  20. ^ Budiman, Christine Tamir and Abby (3 May 2019). "In South Africa, racial divisions and pessimism about democracy loom over elections". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  21. ^ "John Steenhuisen elected DA's new leader". EWN. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  22. ^ Gerber, Jan (9 October 2019). "EXPLAINED l What is the DA's federal council". News24. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  23. ^ Chothia, Farouk; Kupemba, Danai Nesta; Plett-Usher, Barbra (14 June 2024). "ANC and DA reach deal to form South African government of national unity". BBC. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  24. ^ "GNU now comprises ten political parties". Algoa FM. Retrieved 5 July 2024.