Enticing black votes still DA’s challenge

THE defection of three black MPs from the Democratic Alliance to the ANC has been interpreted in some quarters as further proof that the party is unable to attract support outside the minority groups and that this indicates that it belongs in the past as a relic of the apartheid era.

Such a conclusion, based as it is on seemingly opportunistic defections from the DA, does not stand up to scrutiny. And simply to dismiss a party that won 50 seats as recently as in last year’s elections as a relic is wishful thinking.

While it is true that the DA has failed to make the kind of inroads within the majority constituency that would have supported its claim to be an alternative government, it has nevertheless increased its black support since 1994.

The challenge facing the DA – and the ANC is experiencing not dissimilar problems in the Western Cape – is how to wed a constituency with vastly different priorities and attitudes, fears and aspirations into a composite whole.

How can a party that is the political home for many conservative white and coloured people also be attractive to Africans who wish to belong to one that embraces liberal democracy?

The DA’s response to this question, that it is the party for people who espouse liberal democracy is flawed, primarily because it fails to take into account the racial realities of this country and the still deeply embedded divisions of the past that remain an integral part of our society, however abhorrent that may be.

Acceptance of that, however much it cannot be reconciled with current thinking that is opposed to anything that is deemed to be part of re-racialising South Africa, is a sine qua non for meeting the challenge the DA faces.

The DA is not alone in facing that challenge, but it perhaps has more to lose – by simply ignoring it or by addressing the problems when they arise on a seemingly ad hoc basis.

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Dangerous to underplay crime

CRIME is seldom far from ordinary South Africans no matter how much government politicians and their officials attempt to downplay levels of crime.

Recent statistics released by the safety and security department revealed there had indeed been a general reduction in violent crime nationally, yet that drop is negligible when compared to the huge number of murders, rapes, armed robberies and serious assaults that occur daily.

In Port Elizabeth this week a young woman – just 20-years-old – died after having being gang-raped by 10 men during the early hours of Saturday morning.

The fact that a gang of thugs should be cowardly enough to force themselves on their innocent victim is horrific enough. But the manner in which they also brutalised her defies comprehension.

This young woman, just starting out in life, was repeatedly beaten and attempts were made to gouge her eyes out.

What sort of person can be so callous and cold-blooded as to treat a fellow human being in this manner?

The sobering answer is that there are many such people in South Africa.

Even little children are not exempt from these monsters as recent examples of rape, abduction and murder show.

It is undeniable that crime remains one of our nation’s biggest challenges.

We believe it is disingenuous and self-serving to underplay just how serious the problem is.