DA to voters: small parties could seize your city in coalition deals

The Democratic Alliance spent the final hours of voting day telling South Africans that the smallest parties on the ballot could end up deciding who runs their town or city.

In a post on its official X account, the party said small parties holding just a handful of council seats can carry significant power once coalition negotiations begin. It urged voters to use the ballot to determine who governs their area, warning against what it called coalition chaos, and reminded them that voting stations close at 21:00.

The message closed with the party’s campaign line: “Stop the chaos. Start service delivery.”

The argument is a familiar one for the DA, which has governed several of the country’s largest metros and has repeatedly positioned itself against coalition arrangements it says put service delivery at risk. In this post the party does not name any rival party or any specific municipality. Its case is made in general terms, aimed at voters weighing a vote for a smaller grouping.

That framing places the party’s own record in the spotlight as much as its opponents’. Where the DA has entered coalitions it has had to negotiate with the same smaller parties it now warns voters about, and the party’s claim that it offers steadier government is a position it advances rather than a finding this post establishes.

The post also carries a practical instruction rather than a policy promise. With stations due to close at 21:00, the party’s immediate ask is that supporters turn out before the deadline.

What the post does not do is set out which councils it expects to be decided by coalition talks, or which parties it has in mind. Voters in those municipalities will learn the answer only once the count is in.