Karima Brown
3 November 2008
Johannesburg — THE African National Congress (ANC) has enjoyed the gift of weak opposition for nearly two decades, but the formation of a breakaway party to be launched on December 16 could give the ruling party a real run for its money, come next year's general election, and could change the nature of opposition politics in a fundamental way.
The weekend's national convention, at which delegates resolved to contest the elections under the banner of a party that is yet to be named, and led by former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota and former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa, was attended by several opposition parties committed to breaking the hegemony of the ANC.
It presents opportunities for the formation of coalition governments against the ANC at provincial and municipal levels with the potential of dislodging the ruling party's dominance in several provinces.
While it remains unclear what organisational form the new party will take, the call for electoral reform against proportional representation, which allows smaller parties to exist, could pose several challenges to how opposition parties co-operate. Details also remain sketchy on whether the new party will merge with the existing opposition groups, a view held by Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille, who earlier this year indicated that she would be willing to give up her leadership role if it would build a powerful alternative to the ANC.
Another challenge is to look at issues of policy convergence between opposition parties that could serve as the glue that holds them together on minimum platforms driven by the common issues that they share. Such issues include the national convention's call to "defend the constitution and the rule of law" as well as efforts to "bring back the Scorpions". But in reality, opposition parties disagree on many of constitutional provisions such as the right to termination of pregnancy, the death penalty and other issues of equity and affirmative action, all of which affect the parties' reception among voters.
What unites them, however, is the commitment to oppose the ruling party. Opposition leader after opposition leader spoke of the need to focus attention on the "real enemy, the ANC" as Independent Democrats (ID) leader Patricia de Lille succinctly put it. She urged greater co-operation between opposition parties and called on them to set aside differences and take the fight to the ANC. She said it was a great honour to be part of an event that "witnessed the breaking down of the ANC", a development that could change the political landscape.
However, the new party's insistence on holding on to its ANC past and paraphernalia and its association with Thabo Mbeki could well put opposition voters off, a development that small parties such as the ID can ill afford.
Zille, also a sanguine proponent of a reconfigured opposition, cited the commitment of the parties to constitutionalism and the rule of law as well as the fight against corruption as common areas that united the opposition with the leaders of the new breakaway party. "The DA helped craft the new constitution so it's only fitting that we are here today to help defend it," she said.
Zille is of the view that SA needs to look "beyond race" and begin to look at "shared values and principles" that will bring people together.
If the lexicon of the speakers who addressed the indaba is anything to go by, it appears as if there is some synergy between coming together around common values that could serve as a bridge to bring different political traditions under one umbrella.
Zille said the coalition government in the mother city was a good example of how opposition parties could work together and urged that it be emulated at provincial and national levels.
Her enthusiasm was shared by Lekota, who said that the new party would be "open" to coalition governments as a way of co- operating in the future.
However, it was the address by United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa that signalled that realigning the opposition could be an uphill battle, with dangers for smaller parties and their future.
"We need to look at how this convention does not end up as a gathering of the elite," Holomisa said. "Current levels of unemployment are unacceptable.
"We need policies that will address the poverty and inequality of our people," he said.
Holomisa also outlined his criteria for leadership of a new party.
"Leadership and policy formulation around a new party could be a tricky questions to negotiate," he said.
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