Coalition options narrow for DA

LINE IN SAND: WILLNOT WORK WITH EFF, ANC OR MK

- Hein Kaiser

HAPPIER DAYS. DA Joburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille with Athol Trollip who left the party in 2019 after a poor election performance and the resignation of party leader Mmusi Maimane.

(Gallo Images)

DA Joburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille posted this week that when she dons the chain mail, she won't work with the ANC, EFF or uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.

That leaves little room for anyone, with significant bedmates limited to ActionSA, the Freedom Front Plus, the Patriotic Alliance and smaller parties and ratepayers associations.

There’s no love lost between ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba and Zille, though, with the former’s online commentary consistently taking digs at the DA and still pushing the notion that ActionSA will harvest more votes from the party.

In the previous municipal elections, Zille’s party did not perform as well as hoped. Yet the DA’s losses in 2021 are framed as a temporary glitch rather than a long-term decline.

Zille said the party believes some lost voters will return.