Some political pundits assumed the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) neutrality on the Gaza War ahead of the country’s May 29 elections would hurt the party in the Western Cape, looking at the results so far, paints a different picture.
The DA’s apparent ambivalence did not seem to hamper its popularity with the party gaining votes and increasing its authority as the official opposition.
According to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), the DA received around 2,445,461 or 22.26% of the national vote, with 75.03% of the votes counted.
The DA obtained 20.77% of the vote in 2019.
ANC used Gaza War
With the African National Congress (ANC) coming out to support the Palestinian people it was assumed by many that the DA’s unwillingness to play a similar role would hurt them in the 2024 elections.
The ANC took a leading role in holding Israel to account, with the ruling party filing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its assault on Gaza.
The ANC also used the Gaza War as a key tool in its political campaigns.
Kealeboga Maphunye, a professor of politics at the University of South Africa noted the ANC’s pro-Palestine rhetoric on the campaign trail.
“The ANC recognised that many South Africans view the cause of the Palestinians just like the cause of Black South Africans during apartheid,” he told Turkish news outlet Anadolu Ajansı in May.
“The party went in with the idea that this sentiment needs to be supported and given more prominence with visible steps taken against Israel.”
Maphunye noted that the DA took a neutral stance in the Gaza War and in early May he argued that this could dent its support in areas with large Muslim communities, especially in the Western Cape.
In early May, Riad Davids, a DA Councillor in the Western Cape spoke at a Town Hall in the Bo-Kaap and was heckled by several members of the community.
“We cannot allow supporters of baby killers to talk to us,” a resident of Surrey Estate said at the meeting.
Davids was booed and jeered at by several audience members and was prevented from making his speech.
DA most likely will win the Western Cape again
The results in the Western Cape has showed the the war in Gaza has played little to no role in the DA maintaining its majority and ruling status in the province.
According to the latest figures from the IEC, in the provincial legislature, the DA has obtained 55.05% (885,485 votes ) in the Western Cape, with 86.26% of the vote been calculated. In 2019, the DA had 55.54%.
The ANC has obtained just 304,157 votes in the province or 18.91% of the vote.
Why the DA was victorious?
IOL elections analyst Roscoe Palm said on Friday that the DA’s stance on the war has not deterred Western Cape voters from supporting the party.
“There is a phenomenon in the Western Cape of people being pro-Palestine in the streets but pro-DA on the ballot sheet,” he explained.
He said that these people will go to pro-Palestine marches but at the same time will still vote for the DA.
He argued that the DA’s messaging of good governance and clean audits has had a deep impact on the voter.
He did acknowledge that there needs to be more analysis on this “phenomenon” in the coming weeks.
IOL News