DA‘s crisis of identity and self-positioning
The outcome of the recent, though lesser known elective conference of the DA can be summed up as a "sprinkling of chocolate on top of white cream". At the heart of party that is desperately trying to shed an image of being white, male and conservative is a drive to springboard and parachute anointed blacks into party prominence.
If you browse through the profiles of both Lindiwe Mazibuko and Mmusi Maimane you will realise that the two only joined the DA in 2010. And voila, after two years they are at the helm of the party as parliamentary leader and deputy federal chairperson respectively. Fine, the argument could be that they have during their short stay, acquitted themselves with distinction in the party. Granted but you will have to convince me if there were no other people with better experience, be they black or white who were ready for such positions?
Such springboarding of black people is coupled with crisis of identity and self-positioning by the DA. In this instance there are three main assertions that always prop up whenever Helen Zille speaks, which need to be debunked:
First, that the DA is a good custodian of the Mandela legacy of racial reconciliation:
This is a drive by the DA to project itself as the modern day "Mandela ANC". The ANC acknowledges that Mandela is not its sole preserve. The ANC doesn't hold qualms with all South Africans and in fact the world associating themselves with the Mandela legacy. This is because the ANC has long identified itself as the leader of society and the South African people at large. However, many in the opposition thought the ANC will decline after Mandela retired as its president. They even predicted the party will make a poor showing during the upcoming general elections only to be surprised by its attainment of the two-thirds majority in the 1999 national elections.