The DA-led coalition convention in Kempton Park on Wednesday. [Picture: @OurDA/Twitter]
Several opposition political parties will meet on Wednesday to find a way to boot the African National Congress (ANC) from government in 2024, should it fail to win a majority. The Democratic Alliance (DA) will lead the effort to put together what it has described as a “moonshot pact”.
Like-minded parties, such as the DA and ActionSA, will hold a series of talks at Kempton Park over the next two days. The venue was symbolically chosen for it being the address of the multiparty negotiations that ushered in the democratic era.
High on the agenda are the terms of agreements that would guide a coalition government after the general election. This follows government-led coalition talks held outside Cape Town earlier in August.
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Expectations
On Monday, ahead of the convention, ActionSA said it would seek a commitment from the DA that it would not enter into an ANC-DA coalition. Both had previously denied talking behind the scenes.
“The DA has been talking openly about the idea of a coalition with the ANC before, during and after the announcement of the so-called moonshot pact and it concerns us. And that is why we need to seek those assurances, and as to whether or not we will receive those assurances is an altogether different matter,” said ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont.
Meanwhile, DA leader John Steenhuisen said interested parties had been meeting regularly to find common ground before the convention got underway.
“We have got to this point because, for the past three months, the leaders of the parties involved have met every single week to painstakingly cultivate the common ground required for a convention.
Parties that are anticipated to participate in the convention are generally right-leaning, including the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and Freedom Front (FF).
