The DA must target neglected towns like Mthatha if it wants to win over black voters and challenge the ANC, writes Zukile Majova in Real Politics.
Opposition parties in South Africa often fall into the trap of thinking that just because people are leaving the ANC, they will automatically support the opposition.
But that’s not how it works. Voters leaving the ANC can just as easily spread their support across smaller parties or stay away from the polls completely. This weakens the opposition instead of strengthening it.
The DA is a clear example of this problem. Over the past 20 years, the ANC has lost nearly 30% of its national vote — dropping from 69.69% in 2004 to 40% in 2024.
But the DA hasn’t capitalised on this. Its own share of the vote has only gone up from 14% to 21.8% — and that’s actually a decline from its peak of 22.23% in 2014.
Instead of growing, the DA is caught up in fights with smaller parties like the Freedom Front Plus and the Patriotic Alliance — both chasing small, conservative voter bases that won’t be enough to take down the ANC.
The Patriotic Alliance only got 2% of the national vote, but the DA treats it like a major threat because it’s been stealing coloured voters.
But a party that wants to govern nationally cannot let itself be distracted by such small battles.
The real threat to the ANC doesn’t come from the DA — it comes from uMkhonto Wesizwe and the Economic Freedom Fighters. Together, Jacob Zuma and Julius Malema have taken 25% of the national vote.
They are not only taking ANC votes, they are taking its members and hijacking its structures including its branches.
If the DA wants to be taken seriously as a future government, it needs a bold new strategy — and that starts with going after black voters.
The party’s future does not lie with its traditional base. If it wants to grow, it must win the support of black South Africans who are fed up with the ANC. That also includes the millions of registered voters who are no longer showing up on election day.
And if DA leaders want to make a real statement, they must take the fight straight into the ANC’s heartland — to Mthatha.
This is the hometown of Nelson Mandela. Today it’s a broken, unsafe town where businesses are extorted by gangsters and residents are abandoned by the state. Mandela’s own village, Qunu, has not had tap water for 10 years.
But where is the DA?
When floods killed more than 100 people in Mthatha earlier this year, the DA was nowhere to be seen. That was a moment to step up and show real leadership. That was a chance to challenge the ANC on its home turf. Instead, the party stayed silent.
Now billions are being spent to rebuild infrastructure and help flood victims. But who’s watching the money? The DA should be making sure those funds don’t disappear into corrupt pockets.
This is about more than just one town. The DA needs to prove that it cares about poor, rural black communities. It needs to shake off the idea that it only cares about the suburbs.
Christopher Pappas, mayor of Umngeni, is doing exactly that. He’s turned around his municipality and is winning the trust of residents who had long given up hope. But Pappas is just one man.
Thirty years into democracy, the DA still has just 14% of the vote in the Eastern Cape and 13% in KwaZulu-Natal. To change that, it needs to do more than visit black townships during election season.
That means building proper structures in rural provinces. It means staying active, even between elections. It means funding local campaigns and showing up in a real and meaningful way.
It also means rethinking some of the party’s policies.
Scrapping black economic empowerment and affirmative action may please the DA’s core supporters, but it’s not going to win over black voters. Yes, these programmes haven’t always worked. But the answer is to fix them, not to throw them out entirely.
Don’t get me wrong — the DA has made progress. Its rallies have more energy. Its events are better attended by black South Africans. Launching manifestos in places like Soweto is a step in the right direction.
But the party still struggles to communicate where it stands on land reform, social welfare, and transformation. Those are key issues for the very voters it needs to win over.
Now that some DA leaders are ministers in the new government, they have a chance to show that the party can bring meaningful change to black communities.
But that work starts now — not at the next election.
If the DA wants to be more than just a junior coalition partner, it must stop playing it safe and start fighting to lead. That fight begins in places like Mthatha.
Pictured above: The leadership of the Democratic Alliance.
Image Source: DA
