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Gabbriel Bakker writes an open Letter to the Democratic Alliance
“The DA leadership should start attending funerals and weddings of the people who they serve.”
These were the words of Zwakele Mncwango, provincial KwaZulu-Natal DA leader.
In making these remarks recently, the outspoken KZN leader alluded to a larger, more complex problem within the party: emotionally connecting with voters.
“We need to confront this perception that the DA is just people who sit in air-conditioned offices and go to the beach while black people protest in the streets.”
With headlines screaming bloody murder from all four corners about the DA lately, it would seem that the party is definitely trudging through a grim period.
Throw the De Lille saga and water crisis into the mix and you’ve got a positively bubbling froth of negativity engulfing the official opposition.
And the negativity seems to be seeping through to the electorate – a recent Ipsos poll indicated that DA support had dropped to 20%.
The party leader’s response to the findings of the poll? He’s “not concerned”.
Mmusi Maimane’s stance is understandable as he presumably believes the DA is merely going through a rough patch and will soon emerge from the proverbial dark tunnel.
Nevertheless, for a party that is aiming to take control of Gauteng and Northern Cape in the 2019 general elections, one does wonder whether the DA is on the same page.
The DA needs to go back to basics. It needs to forge an emotional connection with voters on issues.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) knows this very well. What the Red Berets realise arguably more than anyone else is that if an issue is personalised and is made relatable, it becomes entrenched in peoples’ minds and a bond is formed.
The conundrum that the DA finds itself in was succinctly phrased by Mncwango: “They (the voters) know the DA can fight corruption but, until you can get around the issue of the emotional connection, you will have this serious trust deficit (with voters).”
How does the DA solve this complex issue of perceived lack of empathy? There is no straight answer to this question.
The party essentially needs to become less clinical and more human.
Mostly it entails fighting for issues that have instant gravitas with voters and fighting for those issues side by side with the people, not in offices or in grand speeches.
This means that more emphasis needs to be placed on ground level interaction with voters.
Credit must be given to certain leaders in the DA who are increasingly grasping the importance of this.
The “Let’s Talk” campaign launched in the Western Cape recently whereby several meetings will be held with residents to vent their frustrations and air grievances with party representatives is a commendable gesture and will possibly lend the organisation some goodwill.
How about replicating this on a national scale, particularly in Gauteng?
Voters want to hear about solutions to issues that they are hardest hit by. They do not want to hear about elitist internal party squabbles over power.
Traditionally, the DA has done quite well in this regard – it has maintained an outward-looking (voter-oriented) approach which put the ANC’s destructive factionalism in direct contrast.
Now that the DA has a vice-like grip on power in the Western Cape, it does exactly as its counterparts do when faced with unopposed control – it engages in devastating internal (and public) power battles.
These battles blatantly manifest themselves in the De Lille saga and the “rogue mayor” situation in Knysna.
The DA cannot even begin to adequately address voter concerns if it is trapped in detached power battles of no interest to the average voter whatsoever.
The fact is, certain issues can certainly be driven by the DA, as seen by Maimane’s fuel price hike outing to a taxi rank in the Johannesburg CBD recently.
He conducted media interviews in minivans and engaged directly with the people hit hardest by these fuel price increases: the taxi owners.
This is definitely a positive approach to the issue as it is unconventional – cutting through the detached numbers and statistics and instead speaking with the people, thus forging a direct connection with people.
While the party leader is on the right track, senior DA leaders are somewhat preoccupied with other matters, such as attacking Maimane’s matter-of-fact position on white privilege.
The DA must be united if it truly wants to tackle voter problems.
The DA could handle the land issue differently, however. Land is arguably the hottest and most divisive topic and will probably continue to be in the foreseeable future.
The facts remain: the majority of land in South Africa is in the hands of a minority.
We are faced with the daunting truth that a disproportionately large amount of black South Africans have no jobs, no land and are locked out of the economy.
The DA is merely opposing land expropriation without compensation; instead, it should be more vocal about the importance of land redistribution. Land must be redistributed en masse.
The question is: how? There are 20.7 million hectares of land that sit in the state’s hands – this can immediately be redistributed.
The importance of land ownership is something that the DA is slowly but surely advocating for as seen in Gwatyu, a small rural area in the Eastern Cape where the DA is exposing the plight of people disenfranchised of ownership of their land by the ANC government.
Title deeds are the way forward. Once title deeds are given out, people can gain access to banks with leverage – thus potentially becoming a major boon for the economy.
Land redistribution should not be viewed as an economically damaging social project; rather, the DA should advocate for it as something which possibly could add value to the economy.
In justifiably holding the executive to account by confronting misuse of public funds and corruption, as is mandated by its role as the opposition, it can sometimes feel as if the DA neglects issues more relatable to the common voter.
Groundwork will become increasingly important in order to maintain an understanding of the issues that face ordinary people. The fight for social issues must be renewed.
The Democratic Alliance is set to launch its national campaign for the 2019 elections in July.
If it can control its internal squabbles and become more voter-oriented, coupled with a renewed drive on certain issues, it will be well on its way to achieving its 2019 goals.
• Bakker is a 15-year-old South African who can be followed on Twitter @thegabbzter
