Opposition still keen on coalition

The disastrous short-lived union between the DA and AgangSA has done little to curb South Africa's opposition parties' enthusiasm for grand coalitions.

Leaders of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Congress of the People (COPE), Democratic Alliance (DA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and United Democratic Movement (UDM) agreed in Johannesburg yesterday on the need for the opposition to present a united front at elections.

Faced with a dominant ANC that garnered nearly 66% of the national vote in 2009 and a sceptical electorate, opposition leaders conceded that a grand coalition was the best way to present a real alternative to voters hoping to unseat the ruling party.

The DA's Lindiwe Mazibuko said a coalition of opposition parties was the best bet to get people to vote.

"Until they [voters] are presented with a big enough alternative, they will simply not show up at the polls," she said.

The DA would aim to increase its share of the national vote from just over 16% in 2009 to "between 25% and 30% " in the upcoming elections, she said.

COPE president Mosioua Lekota was adamant, however, that the DA would not make it on its own.

"My sense is that the DA will not govern the country unless they are part of a coalition," Lekota said.

However, the parties agreed that an arrangement identical to the one that would have played out between the DA and AgangSA would not work.

ACDP leader Jo-Ann Downs warned that such arrangements had the potential of only serving to grow the DA.

Lekota said an opposition coalition was a "no-brainer", but it was the composition of such a coalition that would be the subject of negotiations.