Yesterday, this newspaper demonstrated an important and encouraging development: that a strong majority of South Africans want the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) to work together to make the country a success.

In an October poll, The Common Sense asked registered voters whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: “Should no one party win a majority and the ANC and DA can form a majority together in any municipality or metro after the next local government elections, they should do so and form a coalition together in the interests of stability.”

Nearly 70% of voters agreed with the statement, and 30% said they disagreed. Two-thirds of white voters agreed, as did 69% of black voters. Cooperation was particularly popular among ANC voters, with 83% of supporters of that party saying they thought the DA and ANC should work together.

Stop for a second and think about what that means, because there is something deeply important inside that number. On our read, it means that South Africans have no fundamental problem with overcoming the deep historical, racial, ideological, political, and socioeconomic divides that exist in the country. It would be very difficult to find a similar result in America today, or in much of Europe, let alone the Middle East.

It has always “made sense” for South Africa, if it is to remain a unitary state, to be run by the ANC as a majority party. It did extremely well in the first decade and a bit after 1994, as growth lifted to 5%, debt and the deficit were cut in half, and the number of people in employment lifted. Had it held those levels, which it easily might have, then the ANC would still hold a strong 60%+ majority today. And in theory, if it can again find the pragmatism of its first decade in policy, it may return to those levels, and that may be the best thing for South Africa Inc, which is an argument this newspaper has been alone in making.

If it won’t return to pragmatism, and it shows little sign of that now, the only alternative political model that “makes sense” for South Africa, if it is to remain a unitary state, is the DA and ANC working together. The DA, as we read it, is open to that, but the ANC is not. That is why, in its weekly diary, this newspaper yesterday proposed that Geordin Hill-Lewis, rather than seeking to negotiate with rats and mice parties, simply put terms to President Cyril Ramaphosa after the 4 November vote; that the two leaders get together and agree on a national deal to govern the country and its major centres. That would be a deal for Ramaphosa to turn down.

Should he turn it down, no workable political model remains according to which South Africa might be well governed as a prosperous and stable unitary state. That road leads to the break-up and fragmentation of the union, which, while fine for the middle classes, will cut back prospects for the kind of national economic recovery that is needed to liberate the poor and the unemployed.

That would be a great pity because, as The Common Sense has again shown at length, it is actually quite easy to get South Africa’s rate of economic growth up to emerging-market norms and its unemployment rate to near 10%.

Our strongest asset as a country in achieving that is to formally unite, in a post-4 November political deal, the great store of goodwill that exists between black and white, rich and poor, DA and ANC. This is our strongest asset as a country and the most powerful countervailing force in favour of South Africa’s long-term success.