Is South Africa's Democratic Alliance a threat to the ANC?
The Democratic Alliance is promising to rescue South Africa from the African National Congress. But it has only been in government at the provincial level. DW's Dianne Hawker traveled to Cape Town to look at the party’s record and what it has to offer.
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00:00 A South African city like no other.
00:03 Cape Town is home to over 4 million people and the numbers keep growing.
00:09 The city has become an investment hub and a sought-after relocation destination for
00:13 South Africans and foreigners.
00:16 It's one of the few places where jobs are steadily growing, largely due to a booming
00:21 tourism industry.
00:23 It's also different because it's not run by the ANC, but by the Opposition Democratic
00:28 Alliance.
00:29 The DA says many of the successes in Cape Town and the greater Western Cape province
00:35 are due to its policy interventions.
00:37 It believes it can replicate this success in the rest of South Africa and rescue the
00:42 country from what it says is 30 years of ANC mismanagement.
00:47 But there's another side of Cape Town, a side where residents struggle to find decent, affordable
00:53 accommodation.
00:55 Rents in Cape Town are up to 40% higher than in Johannesburg.
00:59 Informal settlements like this one have sprung up all across Cape Town.
01:04 Residents who live here say they want to be close to public transport routes and close
01:07 to the city centre where the jobs are located.
01:11 They say there simply isn't enough social housing available and are concerned that the
01:16 prices for rental in other areas are simply too high.
01:22 Life here means living without many basic needs, leading some residents to feel let
01:28 down by the DA administration.
01:32 We don't have electricity, we don't have water and we also don't have toilets.
01:39 These things are quite important to all people.
01:44 Jonas says the DA's track record has not yet convinced him to vote for it.
01:49 The DA does seem to be trying to deliver, but there's many people in the Western Cape.
01:53 It's trying, but we're not really satisfied.
01:56 DA leader John Stiernhazen has taken his party's "rescue South Africa" message across the country,
02:05 mainly focusing on areas that have traditionally voted for the ANC.
02:10 He knows the party needs to attract these voters if it is to overtake the ruling party
02:15 at the polls.
02:18 But what about those who are uncertain about the DA's track record in the Western Cape?
02:23 You're not going to get everything right overnight.
02:25 It's going to take some time.
02:27 We have deep spatial inequality and economic inequality that still exists in South Africa
02:31 years after apartheid.
02:33 And absolutely, the Western Cape is not perfect.
02:35 It's still got a lot to do and that's why we're saying there's lots more to do.
02:39 South African voters have made it clear that beyond promises, they will judge parties in
02:44 this election on their track records.
02:47 The Democratic Alliance will have to show voters that it works for citizens of all backgrounds
02:52 if it wants to unseat the ANC.