Opinion: Why these elections are all about the DA

There is now just under a month to go until the 2016 local government elections on August 3. Every election is important and the implications of the coming result will be significant for all three SA’s big three political parties — the ANC, DA and the EFF. However, of them all, in the grand scheme of things, this election is all about the DA.

The bottom line is that the DA is the only party capable of winning wards, municipalities and metros off the ANC in a meaningful way, and if SA is to move away from one-party dominance towards a plurality of power, only the DA is positioned to realise this in the short term.

The EFF will grow in this election but it will remain the country’s third-biggest party and while it might be able to influence the make-up of some governments, it will, for the most part, find itself on the periphery of formal power come August 4. Whatever its final percentage, it will be dwarfed by the DA.

The DA’s success or failure will be a litmus test for SA’s democratic maturity. That is not to say the party is divinely right and good, only that if our democracy is to develop and progress, it requires a better balance of power. This election will tell us where we stand in that regard.

Read the full column on BDlive