Dancing around the wedding pole

The DA have made no secret of their long term plans for the party. Nor should they, such has been the success of meeting their strategy goals in recent history. In 2004, the DA stated their plans to take control of the Cape Metro in 2006, the Province by 2009 and the country by 2014. Fighting words from a party that has struggled to break the shackles of perception as a white-interest party, often by their own doing. However, under Helen Zille, they do seem a rejuvenated party and in 2009, they were rewarded with control of the Western Cape in the national elections. The same elections that brought COPE onto the political scene.

The only way that the DA can build a foothold outside of the Western Cape is through mergers and coalitions with other opposition parties; such is the hurdle of perception they need to overcome. The next milestone is the 2011 local elections, where the DA will hope to carry some other large metropoles.

Immediately after the 2009 elections, as the COPE leadership went through countless leadership squabbles, and were largely in danger of slipping out of the political scene as rapidly as they entered it, the DA was said to be already engaging the party to find common ground.

Today, the results of those discussions seem to closer to fruition. COPE leader Sam Shilowa, battling rumours that the party was to be “swallowed up” by the DA, spoke of “co-operation inside and outside Parliament” but denied mergers at this stage. However, Shilowa’s foot remains firmly jammed in the door; “Mergers are not on the cards at the moment, at least not in the short term, but who knows what tomorrow or the day after may hold?”

COPE has a welcome suitor in the DA, and it would seem to provide both with a more stable platform for national challenges. Only an outright optimist would assert that it’s enough to challenge for national control yet, but with the electoral cracks within the ANC, some prudent coalitions in other provinces, and some incredibly proficient political marketing, the DA’s 2014 plans may not be as far-fetched as they may seem.