THE drama of the past weeks have drawn much attention towards the Economic Freedom Fighters. But, actually, they are not the mainstay of the opposition, the DA is.
What the EFF has done is provide some meaningful competition for the DA.
The strategic drift is also largely a consequence of Zille’s influence. She is not a strategic thinker; more of a micro manager who reacts to one mini-crisis after another.
What works in the moment is the party’s identity and, if there are contradictions (such as her own record on Mbeki, for example), she believes these can all be explained away in long, tortuous justifications. She seems detached from how voters experience these contradictions.
Again, the EFF has made this strategic uncertainty more apparent. In parliament, which goes such an enormous way towards defining the national debate, the DA simply has no answer to the EFF’s agenda. It is ironic that the EFF’s tactics have proven to be the powerful Hollywood blockbusters capturing the public mind.
The fifth constraint, interwoven through all these points, is the DA’s current organisational culture. It appears not to be a very nice place to work. A contributing factor is the culture of silence that has become so prevalent.
The party seems incapable of having an honest conversation on its condition.
The belief seems to be: pretending that everything is okay is what is best for the DA.
Talking openly and frankly about the state of the party, its leadership, why its staff cannot be retained, how it has lost so much institutional knowledge, and how it has come to pass that expedient tactics now define its agenda needn’t mean a messy public spat, but, crucially, those with the courage of their convictions need to stand up and be heard.
For those who care about oppositional politics and the DA, these are all serious problems. The DA faces a great many external challenges in the run-up to the 2016 elections, among them the EFF, but it has many internal challenges too. As ever in politics, each one will have a powerful influence on the other.
Cracks in DA clear to see
What the EFF has done is provide some meaningful competition for the DA.
The strategic drift is also largely a consequence of Zille’s influence. She is not a strategic thinker; more of a micro manager who reacts to one mini-crisis after another.
What works in the moment is the party’s identity and, if there are contradictions (such as her own record on Mbeki, for example), she believes these can all be explained away in long, tortuous justifications. She seems detached from how voters experience these contradictions.
Again, the EFF has made this strategic uncertainty more apparent. In parliament, which goes such an enormous way towards defining the national debate, the DA simply has no answer to the EFF’s agenda. It is ironic that the EFF’s tactics have proven to be the powerful Hollywood blockbusters capturing the public mind.
The fifth constraint, interwoven through all these points, is the DA’s current organisational culture. It appears not to be a very nice place to work. A contributing factor is the culture of silence that has become so prevalent.
The party seems incapable of having an honest conversation on its condition.
The belief seems to be: pretending that everything is okay is what is best for the DA.
Talking openly and frankly about the state of the party, its leadership, why its staff cannot be retained, how it has lost so much institutional knowledge, and how it has come to pass that expedient tactics now define its agenda needn’t mean a messy public spat, but, crucially, those with the courage of their convictions need to stand up and be heard.
For those who care about oppositional politics and the DA, these are all serious problems. The DA faces a great many external challenges in the run-up to the 2016 elections, among them the EFF, but it has many internal challenges too. As ever in politics, each one will have a powerful influence on the other.
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