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The DA was once a responsible party and credible alternative to the ruling party. However the DA of 2025 no longer resembles the party of 2010. Their strategic and ideological shifts raise concerns about the future of Cape Town and the Western Cape. What kind of future will the DA offer our children and grandchildren?

The party is becoming increasingly similar to the ANC. In 2025 the DA absorbed former ANC leaders, aligning itself with ANC-linked factions, and has adopted comparable policies. These developments risk turning the DA into an “ANC-lite” party rather than a distinct alternative.

Economic policy is another area of concern. The DA’s recent proposal to replace BEE with a UN-aligned SDG framework illustrate a preference for state-directed economic management under the guise of “centrist” policy. This shift expands bureaucracy, increases costs for businesses, strengthens central control, and encourages reliance on consultants, NGOs, and politically aligned actors.

Urban planning in Cape Town illustrates these concerns. The city’s Integrated Development Plan under DA governance places heavy emphasis on densification, shaping development in overtly political ways. This approach places pressure on infrastructure, reduces liveability, and embeds ethically questionable planning decisions with long-term consequences.

Questions are also emerging about the DA’s future relevance. University SRC election results show growing student support for parties other than the DA, signalling a declining resonance with younger voters.

Finally, the party leadership appears increasingly committed to what can be described as an “anointed vision.” Evidence that challenges their narrative is often dismissed. Disagreement is framed as obstruction, and interventionist policies are justified as inevitable. This approach risks weakening social cohesion and undermining effective policymaking.

Sadly the DA of 2025 is a party that has centralised control and adopted very risky strategies. What kind of future will the DA offer our children and grandchildren? On this basis, we need to reconsider our support for the DA in 2026 and beyond. Read more HERE. If not the DA, then who do we vote for?

Who then should I vote for?

Many people argue that they vote for the DA to preserve a majority in Cape Town and prevent the ANC, or another party, from taking power. That is a fair concern.

However, this misses the real issue. The DA is increasingly becoming indistinguishable from the ANC. At this point, this is difficult to deny. Voting for the DA now effectively delivers ANC-style governance. At the same time, I must be honest and say that refusing to vote or voting away may accelerate this convergence. So either way we are going to get the ANC.

However, there is a third way. If we can build meaningful support for an alternative, such as the Freedom Front Plus, it becomes possible to slow this trajectory, mitigate policy excesses, and potentially change direction. There are no guarantees, but one outcome is certain: continued support for the DA will result in more of the same failed ANC-style policies.

The Freedom Front Plus is mentioned here because, based on my investigation, it has a track record of responsible local governance, decades of parliamentary experience, and lacks the apartheid-era baggage that continues to haunt both the ANC and the DA.