Steenhuisen calls on South Africans to register to vote for opposition parties' moonshot pact

DA leader John Steenhuisen has appealed to South Africans not only to register to vote but to vote for parties that are part of the DA-led “moonshot pact”.

Steenhuisen said the opposition parties’ “mission to rescue South Africa” would not succeed if potential voters do not go to the polls or elect parties that work with the ANC. 

“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,” he said. “I call on you to turn your back on any so-called opposition party that is not part of this pact,” added Steenhuisen. 

“Any political leader who refuses to put the needs of South Africa ahead the narrow interests of their party does not deserve your vote.”

Steenhuisen called on South Africans not to vote for parties such as the Patriotic Alliance, Al Jama-ah and Good, which he said had sold out to the ANC. 

“If a party is not part of the pact, they are on the side of the ANC and the EFF.”

While the political leaders who are part of the pact have the responsibility to lead by example by working together in the national interest, its success would ultimately depend on the people of South Africa doing the same, he said.

The DA hopes the pact will set an example on how all South Africans can unite and take action towards a common set of values and policies.

“All that we ask is that you, as a voter, do the same. Just like we in the pact are doing, I ask you to reach out to your fellow South Africans. Persuade them that, just like the parties in the pact, we need to take action — together — by all going out to register to rescue South Africa.”

Steenhuisen was giving an update on the so-called moonshot pact of like-minded opposition parties which he first announced at the DA’s federal congress three months ago as a pre-election alliance aimed at removing the ANC from power in 2024.

The opposition pact offered the best chance to unseat the ANC, keep the EFF out of power and form a stable new government, said Steenhuisen.

The DA, the IFP, Freedom Front Plus, ActionSA, United Independent Movement and the Spectrum National Party are part of the pact and will hold a national convention in Johannesburg next month.

Steenhuisen said they believe 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. By showing that South Africa can be rescued if we have the courage to stand together, the pact can energise the 14-million voters who are not registered to do so, and give the 13-million people who are registered but failed to vote in 2021, a new reason to vote.”

If all goes well, the pact will emerge from the convention with clearly defined values and principles, a common minimum programme of action, and a formula that will show South Africa what a pact cabinet could look like, Steenhuisen said.

TimesLIVE