The challenges of transitioning from opposition to governing party: The case study of the Democratic Alliance in South Africa’s Western Cape Province. Sandile Mnikati (214582906) This Dissertation is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Science in Political Science at the School of Social Sciences, College of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal Supervisor: Dr. Khondlo Mtshali Co-supervisor: Mr Sandile Mnguni i DECLARATION I Sandile Mnikati declare that: 1. The research reported in this thesis, except where otherwise indicated,is my original research. 2. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or examination at any other university. 3. This thesis does not contain other persons· data, pictures, graphs or other infom1ation, unless specifically acknowledged asbeing sourced from other persons. 4. This thesis does not contain another persons' writing, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other researchers. \1/hereother written sources have been quoted, then: a. Their words have been re-written, but the general information attributed to them has been referenced b. Where their exact words have been used, then their writing has been placed in inside quotation marks and referenced. 5. This thesis does not contain text, graphicsor tables copied and pasted from the Internet. unless specifically acknowledged, and the source being detailed in the Thesis and in rhe References sections. _Mnikati.S_ Student Name Sign,Ullre. , % Date 2020/05/09 Mtshali, K Supervisor Mnguni.S Co-Supervisor ii Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to all the members of the Mnikathi and Wallett family, you have been a pillar of strength throughout this journey. A worthwhile mention is the Wilson family your unwavering support does not go unnoticed iii Acknowledgements First, I give thanks to God for His grace that has made possible the completion of this thesis. I am also extremely grateful for the invaluable guidance, patience and encouragement of my supervisors Dr. Khondlo Mtshali and Mr Sandile Mnguni. I do not think that I would have completed this research were not for their supervision. I am extremely grateful for the encouragement of all my colleagues. However, I would like to make special mention of Greg Krumbock, Pam Passmoor and Moira Grueneberg for their support and for always believing in me. I owe a deep gratitude to my friends who have always showed genuine concern and were always eager to ask me how work was going. I offer my heartfelt thanks to Ntombikayise Thembelihle Mswane, Mike Bond, Thembelani Sikhakhane, Dr Dan Taye Prof. Bernard Matolino, Siyanda Buthelezi and Brendan Stead. I am especially indebted to my family amaKhapela oGwencswa for their invaluable emotional support. Special thanks to my grandmother and my aunt. iv Abstract Opposition, rivalry or competition between government and its opponents is an important aspect of democratisation (Dahl:1973). The role of opposition in strengthening democracy cannot be understated, it has become common knowledge that liberal democratic systems rely quite heavily on institutional opposition. However, opposition parties also need to prepare themselves to govern. Opposition parties that prepare themselves for government must also have a distinct set of policies which they would have to implement if were to become the governing party. This poses a dilemma for opposition parties as the resources that they invest in these preparations could be used to make them effective opposition. This research uses South Africa’s Western Cape province as its case study. The rationale for choosing the Western Cape is because it is the only province, in South Africa, where an opposition party has successfully made the transition from opposition to governing party. This research will answer the following questions: (1) What do opposition parties have to do in order to prepare themselves to govern? (2) What challenges did the Democratic Alliance face when it first governed? The research relied on textual data as a result qualitative research method was deemed appropriate. While at the Western Cape provincial level the DA was prepared to govern, the study found that the DA efforts at the national level were hampered by ideological confusion and lack of clear and distinct policy goals. The study also deduced that the DA needs to fine tune its communication strategy so that its policies are clear to the South African public. Key Terms: Democratic Alliance, African National Congress, Opposition Party, Democracy v Abbreviations List ACDP- African Christian Democratic Party ANC – African National Congress ARV- Antiretroviral BBBEE- Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment BEE- Black Economic Empowerment BN- Barisan Nasional BNG- Breaking New Ground COPE- Congress of the People CEO- Chief executive officer CUD- Coalition for Unity and Democracy CV- Curriculum Vitae DA - Democratic Alliance DGP- Democratic Green Party DP-Democratic Party DSD- Department of Social Development ECD-Early Childhood Development ECOWAS- Economic Community of West African States ENCA- ENews Channel Africa EFF-Economic Freedom Fighters ESKOM- Electricity Supply Commission GNU - Government of National Unity FIU - Forensic Investigative Unit FPP- First-past-the-post FF+ - Freedom Front Plus HIV- Human Immunodeficiency Virus IALCH- Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital ID – Independent Democrats IEC- Independent Electoral Commission IFP- Inkatha Freedom Party IPP- Independent Power Producers vi ISMO- Independent System and Market Operator KANU- Kenyan African National Union MEC - Member of the Executive Council MMP- Mixed-member proportional NSC – National Senior Certificate NEEI- National Education Evaluation Inspectorate NFP -National Freedom Party NHI- National Health Insurance NNP- New National Party NP – National Party PAC – Pan Africanist Congress of Azania PAY- Premier's Advancement of Youth PDS- Senegalese Democratic Party PRI- Partido Revolucionario Institucionalizado PH -Pakatan Harapan PS- Socialist Party RDP- Reconstruction and Development Programme PSC- Public Service Commission SACC- South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry SAPS- South African Police Service SANAB- South African Narcotics Bureau SME- Small and medium-sized enterprises SASSA- South African Social Security Agency UDM - United Democratic Movement UNICEF- United Nations Children's Fund VBS- Venda Building Society WEF- World Economic Forum YLP- Young Leaders Programme vii Table of Content DECLARATION .......................................................................................................................ii Dedication ................................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………………..iv Abstract ......................................................................................................................................v Abbreviations List ....................................................................................................................vi Table of Content .....................................................................................................................viii List of Tables & Figures ............................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1 - BACKGROUND and INTRODUCTION…………………………………..1 1.0 Introduction……..…………………………………………………………………………1 1.1. Opposition parties in Africa and South Africa………………..……………………………1 1.2 Contribution of opposition parties to development…………….…………………………..2 1.3 Democratic Alliance consolidating Opposition……………………………………………3 1.4 Research aims and objectives………………………………………………………………4 1.5 Research methodology and methods………………………………………………………4 1.6 Structure of dissertation…………………………………………………………………...6 CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………..8 2.0 Introduction……………………………………………………..…………………………8 2.1 Opposition parties in Africa and South Africa……………………………………………...8 2.2 Opposition Parties and strengthening democracy………………………………………...12 2.3 Opposition parties in Post -Apartheid South Africa………………………………………15 2.4.1 Inkatha Freedom Party as an Opposition Party………………………………………….16 2.4.2 United Democratic Movement as an Opposition Part…………………..………………18 2.4.3 Freedom Front Plus as an Opposition Party……………………………………………20 viii 2.4.4 Congress of the People as an opposition Party………………………………………...22 2.4.5 Economic Freedom fighters as an opposition party……………………………………24 2.5 Democratic Alliance consolidating Opposition………………………………………….27 2.5.1 Democratic Party Merger with New National Party…………………………………...30 2.5.2 Democratic Alliance Merger with the Independent Democrats………………………..30 2.5.3 Multiparty Democracy and Consolidation of opposition Parties………………………30 2.6 Opposition Parties in Asia………………………………………………………………..31 2.7 Role of Opposition Parties in New Zealand……………………………………………...32 2.8 Contribution of opposition parties to socio-political and economic development ………33 2.9 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………..37 CHAPTER 3 - THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK………………………………………..39 3.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………39 3.1 Liberal Democratic Theory………………………………………………………………40 3.1.1 Liberalism………………………………………………………………………………40 3.1.2 Democracy……………………………………………….…………………………….41 3.1.3 Liberal Democracy in Africa…………………………………………………………...42 3.2 Liberal Transitional theory……………………………………………………………….44 3.2.1 Shadow Cabinets……………………………………………………………………….45 3.2.2 Policy formulation……………………………………………………………………...46