Patricia De Lille is once again back on the campaign trail. This time – and perhaps in more comfortable territory for her – she will return to heading up her own political party where she can exert her own authority and not be faced with the many constraints normally found in larger political entities with disparate constituencies.
Mrs. De Lille is attempting to once again tap into a disillusioned or disgruntled political market that might be tempted to ditch the larger parties in favour of a fresh style of democratic activity. In this, De Lille no doubt has read a variety of opinion surveys which do indicate a large undecided or floating vote that could certainly – if harnessed – be a political force in the country.
So far, this all sounds promising for what may well be some sort of re-incarnation of the Independent Democrats, a party that gained some traction in the Western Cape when De Lille left the PAC but, never caught on nationally where at its peak, it could barely muster 2% of the popular vote.
The last few years have seen a plethora of powerful and talented women attempt to ‘go-it-alone’ in the highly competitive South African party-political space. Dr Mamphela Ramphele and Makhosi Khoza come to mind as holding out great potential, but falling miserably to not only manage but establish in practical terms their respective parties.
De Lille faces some similar challenges. It’s a costly exercise to launch a new political party and with the larger parties enjoying substantial budgets, she will find the going extremely tough and constraining. Secondly, parties built around strong personalities require more than just one high-profile individual. De Lille desperately needs other personalities of stature to join her movement or else it will simply be seen as a vehicle for her own self-promotion.
But more importantly, De Lille has to be seen as a credible force that can find a unique selling proposition away from the DA, ANC or even EFF. And here’s the rub. Her launch announcement was largely framed within a vengeful narrative again the DA.