Cyril walks, the DA wobbles

In the mid-1800s, the tightrope walker, Charles Blondin, piggybacked his manager across the Niagara Gorge before an awestruck crowd. It was a feat no-one tried to repeat.

- William Saunderson-Meyer

Well, not until President Cyril Ramaphosa and DA leader John Steenhuisen attempted its political equivalent after the 2024 general election - a joined-at-the-hip coalition above a seething cauldron of electoral disdain.

The two men's fates are now interwoven, but with the main beneficiary of this brothers-in-arms balancing act being Ramaphosa.

The first lesson was when Ramaphosa fired Andrew Whitfield, the DA deputy minister, over an unauthorised trip to the US.

Steenhuisen huffed and puffed, then sulkily accepted the decision.

The second lesson came when Emma Powell, the DA's international relations spokesperson, resigned her portfolio, citing months of government intimidation and surveillance in response to her foreign-policy dissent.