Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen on Tuesday maintained that forming a united opposition Pact ahead of the 2024 election offers political parties the very best chance to unseat the African National Congress (ANC), keep the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) out of power, and form a stable new government to rescue South Africa.

Steenhuisen was speaking during a live broadcast to the nation, where he urged citizens not to vote for any political party that is not part of the Moonshot Pact.

“The most important thing we should not do, is to vote for parties that pretend to be in opposition but are actually fronts for the ANC. Any political leader who refuses to put the needs of South Africa ahead of the narrow interests of their party, does not deserve your vote,” he said.

He accused the Patriotic Alliance, Al Jamah and GOOD party of being mired in corruption and selling out to the ANC.

The DA, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Freedom Front Plus, ActionSA, United Independent Movement and the Spectrum National Party have established sufficient common ground to hold a National Convention for the Moonshot Pact on August 16 and 17.

Steenhuisen hopes the Moonshot Pact will form a strong, united opposition, and provide a way for political parties to “break free from the abuse the country suffers at the hands of the ANC”.

Steenhuisen explained that this Moonshot Pact would bring together different parties – excluding the ANC, EFF and “their proxies” – to ensure that the opposition focuses its collective energies on defeating the ANC, rather than on attacking each other.

He said his party was deeply committed to this process, and believed the Convention in August would be the most important political conversation to take place in the country since the transition to democracy.

“We believe that the outcome could provide opposition voters with something they have never had before: the credible prospect of victory. By working together, the Pact can be greater than the sum of our collective parts,” said Steenhuisen.

He added that the Pact could energise the 14-million unregistered voters to vote, and give the 13-million people who are registered but failed to vote in 2021 a new reason to vote.

CERTAINTY AND STABILITY

He noted that a successful Convention would also provide the certainty and stability that would be crucial to forming a Pact government in 2024.

He noted, however, that many were still sceptical about the effectiveness of coalitions given the attention that had been paid to “the few that have not worked”.

“That is precisely why the National Convention is designed to negotiate many key elements of a post-2024 government up front – so that we don’t have to rush to meet the two-week deadline after the election,” said Steenhuisen.

While the political leaders inside the Pact had the responsibility to lead by example by working together in the national interest, the success of the Pact would ultimately depend on the people of South Africa doing the same, he said.

The DA hopes that the Pact will set a worthy example of how South Africans from all backgrounds can unite and take action around a common set of values and policies to rescue the country.