Born in 1976, John Steenhuisen is the leader of South Africa’s official opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The DA’s history is marked by various mergers, name changes, and ideological shifts.
The party’s roots can be traced back to the Progressive Party, formed in 1959 as a liberal opposition to apartheid. Over the years, the party has merged with other political entities, including the Reform Party and the Federal Alliance to form the Democratic Alliance in 2000.
The DA has been the official opposition to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) since 1999.
They have a crime plan which includes increasing the number of police officers to 250,000, employing an additional 30,000 detectives and forensics experts, and adding 500 more prosecutors. They also support a prison labour programme and the establishment of a directorate for victims of crime.
In terms of social development, the DA has a policy which includes a basic income grant for adults earning less than a certain amount, and a proposal for an ‘opportunity voucher’ or twelve-month community service programme for high school matriculants.
The day that an ANC EFF government takes over it will be doomsday for South Africa… EFF doomsday will make the collapse of Zimbabwe look like a dress rehearsal and it will leave all South Africans black, coloured, white, and Indian completely destitute and abandoned.
John Steenhuisen
On the issue of land, the DA is against land expropriation without compensation (EWC). They support the willing-buyer-willing-seller principle and allow for expropriation for reform purposes in certain limited circumstances.
Interstingly, the DA supports electoral reforms that would replace the current party list voting system with a 75% constituency-based, 25% proportional representation-based electoral system. They also make provision for the direct election of the President.
John and I recorded the following conversation a few months before he became the leader.
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