The Democratic Party (DP) was the name of the
South African political party now called the
Democratic Alliance. Although the Democratic Party name dates from 1989, the party existed under other labels throughout the
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid wa ...
years, when it was the Parliamentary opposition to the ruling
National Party's policies.
Background
The
Progressive Federal Party had formed the main parliamentary opposition to the
Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid wa ...
regime in the whites-only House of Assembly since 1977. But the party was ousted as the official opposition in the 1987 election and pushed into third place behind the far-right
Conservative Party, which opposed even the limited reforms the NP had recently implemented. This led to great disillusionment amongst South Africa's white liberal community, and some questioned the merit of continuing to serve in the apartheid parliament. By 1989, they had regrouped, however, and aimed to strengthen the white parliamentary resistance to apartheid; the Progressive Federal Party merged with two smaller reform-minded parties, the
Independent Party and the National Democratic Movement (NDM), to become the Democratic Party. The new party had three co-leaders from each of the parties that had entered the merger:
Zach de Beer
Zacharias Johannes "Zach" de Beer (born Cape Town, South Africa, 11 October 1928 – 27 May 1999) was a liberal Afrikaner South African politician and businessman. He was the last leader of the liberal Progressive Federal Party and then the co-l ...
,
Denis Worrall and
Wynand Malan
Wynand Malan (born 25 May 1943) is a liberal Afrikaner South African politician.
A lawyer, Malan entered politics in the 1977 South African election when he was elected to the South Africa's all white parliament as the National Party MP for ...
. De Beer, from the dominant PFP-faction, eventually became the sole leader, however.
History
The DP showed its political strength by winning a local by-election in the mostly Afrikaner
Linden suburb in Johannesburg, described as a "shock upset" that showed the NP that voters were ready for change. It went on to win 34 seats in the
1989 election, up from 20 before the vote.
In 1990, the NP shifted its race policies towards the centre. President FW de Klerk released Nelson Mandela and announced the unbanning of struggle organisations such as the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election installe ...
, while embracing liberal democracy and opening up its membership to all races. This shift narrowed the political space available to the DP, and the party saw itself further marginalized during the
Codesa
The apartheid system in South Africa was ended through a series of bilateral and multi-party negotiations between 1990 and 1993. The negotiations culminated in the passage of a new interim Constitution in 1993, a precursor to the Constitution ...
negotiations which were dominated by the ANC and NP. In the
1994 election, the party won a disappointing 7 seats in the democratic parliament.
Post-1994
Following the 1994 election,
Tony Leon
Anthony James Leon (born 15 December 1956) is a South African politician who served as leader of the opposition from 1999-2007 as leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA). He led the DA from its inception in 2000, until his retirement from lead ...
became the party's sole leader.
Under Leon's leadership, the DP would become the most active and influential opposition party in the National Assembly, despite its small size. A mid-term review in 1997 found that the party's seven members of parliament had asked 50% as many parliamentary questions as the members of the National Party, despite being more than ten times smaller. In 1998, political columnist Howard Barrell wrote that "Seven DP MPs make their National Party counterparts look like 80 feather dusters". The DP won its first local by-election in a traditional NP constituency in March 1997, and this was followed by several others.
1998 to 2000
By 1998, the party was growing its support base significantly, and after the
1999 election, the DP, under the leadership of Leon, became Official Opposition to the ANC-led government, winning 38 seats. In the
Western Cape province, it achieved kingmaker status and became the junior partner in a governing coalition with the renamed
New National Party (NNP).
This electoral success came at a price, however. The party's new supporters largely came from the National Party and consisted overwhelmingly of ethnic minorities, mainly whites.
The DP had contested the 1999 election with a highly negative campaign under the controversial slogan "Fight Back",
and many, such as ANC President
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC) ...
, were of the view that it was "the transformation of the DP into a right wing political party" that allowed it to capture these voters. Leon and other party leaders dismissed this, however, maintaining that the new supporters would not lead the DP to change its principles. Instead, he said the new recruits would have to ascribe to the liberal-democratic values to which the DP had historically adhered.
[Institutions, Ethnicity, and Political Mobilization in South Africa, page 133]
Formation of the Democratic Alliance
To unify national opposition against the ANC government, the DP and the NNP began planning a merger of the two parties. Accordingly, they formed the
Democratic Alliance (DA) in June 2000. The merger agreement was short-lived, with the NNP leaving the alliance in 2001, but the DA closed ranks and retained the new creation, establishing it at all levels of government from 2003 onwards.
Election results
See also
*
Contributions to liberal theory
Contribution or Contribute may refer to:
* ''Contribution'' (album), by Mica Paris (1990)
** "Contribution" (song), title song from the album
*Contribution (law), an agreement between defendants in a suit to apportion liability
*Contributions, a ...
*
Liberal democracy
*
Liberalism
**
Liberalism in South Africa
Liberalism in South Africa has encompassed various traditions and parties.
The moderate South African Party and its successor, the United Party, formed government several times between the formation of the Union and the election of the Nati ...
**
Liberalism worldwide
This article gives information on liberalism worldwide. It is an overview of parties that adhere to some form of liberalism and is therefore a list of liberal parties around the world.
Introduction
The definition of liberal party is highly deb ...
*
List of liberal parties
This article gives information on liberalism worldwide. It is an overview of parties that adhere to some form of liberalism and is therefore a list of liberal parties around the world.
Introduction
The definition of liberal party is highly deba ...
References
External links
Democratic Alliance website
{{Political history of South Africa , state=expanded
Political parties established in 1989
Political parties disestablished in 2000
South Africa 1989
Defunct political parties in South Africa
Liberal parties in South Africa
Democratic Alliance (South Africa)