Against the Tide by Steven Friedman

In this country's electoral system, opposition parties gain nothing by agreeing not to compete with each other. And so the Democratic Alliance's 'moonshot pact' looks far more like an attempt to get opposition parties to fall in line behind the DA than a serious attempt to win the next election.  It will not fill the hole in this country's party politics - the absence of a party for whom former ANC voters who no longer want to support it can vote.

This is the view of my latest Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To read it, please visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you cannot afford to subscribe, please contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a free or reduced subscription.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.