The DA absorbing the majority votes after the ANC in the national results, with 87 seats in the National Assembly has led the second opposition party leader, John Steenhuisen to deter a possible coalition of the ANC, MK Party, and EFF.
Steenhuisen alluded to a possible pact between the three parties as a “Doomsday Coalition” for the government, and claimed it may get rid of democracy.
Steenhuisen delivered his post-election speech on Sunday across all DA social media platforms.
Steenhuisen previously said the DA will prevent the materialisation of the ANC and EFF coalition. Now, the sudden rise of the MK Party has called for urgency to the DA’s commitment.
Steenhuisen claimed the DA is the sole party that saw the rise of the MK Party and a coalition of these three parties as a threat to the Constitution.
“Based on current projections, a combination of the ANC, EFF and MK have numbers to take power nationally, as well as in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. The bottom line is that, collectively, the ANC, EFF and MK have numbers to take power, while the Multiparty Charter does not.
“This is not the outcome we wanted. But it is the outcome we must now deal with. All throughout the election campaigns, the DA undertook to rescue South Africa from the Doomsday Coalition, we will do our best to do exactly that,” said Steenhuisen.
In impeding the “Doomsday Coalition”, according to Steenhuisen, the DA has delegated its federal executive team to initiate talks with other parties for the formation of a new government.
The team will be spearheaded by Helen Zille, Ivan Meyer, Siviwe Gwarube, Alan Winde, Tony Leon, and Ryan Coetzee to facilitate engagement with other parties.
“The team will identify options for the formation of government at national and provincial-levels, where no party has obtained an outright majority. Our engagement with other parties will also be rooted in the seven apex priorities outlined in our manifesto.
“… Which is creating 2 million jobs, ending load shedding and water shedding, abolishing cadre deployment, eradicating poverty and triple the number of Grade 4 learners who cannot read for meaning; also ensuring healthcare access for all,” he said.
Steenhuisen affirmed a marriage between the MK and EFF will cause unemployment and exceed the poverty line.
“I don’t want my three young daughters to grow up in a country run by a party like the MK, it wants to abolish the Constitution which so many fought for, that wants to subvert the judiciary and plans to expropriate all private property and nationalise the Reserve Bank. These are the things contained in the manifestos of the EFF and MK. They amount to an all-out assault on the Constitution of our country,” Steenhuisen said.
The Star