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One of the myths that permeates South African politics is that the Democratic Alliance (DA) is a white party. That is quite wrong, and the DA now draws the bulk of its support from black South Africans.

In July, The Common Sense and the Social Research Foundation polled support for political parties in the country. One of the questions asked was: if an election were held today, which party would you vote for?

When the answers in favour of the DA were broken down by race, the following support profile for that party emerged:

Three big points emerge from these data.

The first is that the narrowly defined black share, at 36%, was marginally higher than the white share.

The second is that the broader black share, which lumps black, Coloured, and Indian South Africans together, was 65%.

The third is that the party’s traditional white constituency now makes up just over a third of its support base.

Gabriel Makin told The Common Sense, “South Africa perpetuates myths about its people and their politics and their beliefs and positions, and these often do great damage to the country as they drive narratives of great division. But more often than not, the data show a very different picture of people who are able to come together across lines of historical divides where their interests intersect.”

In the case of the DA data, Makin says that common ground is their middle-class status: “If you are a middle-class South African, you now likely vote for the DA because it is clear to you how that party advances your interests. It does not matter much whether you are black or white or ex-African National Congress (ANC)”.

“But it remains harder for people who are not in the middle class to see exactly how the DA defends their interests, and that is why the broader vote in the country is now so fragmented between the ANC, which still has a national lead, the DA, about 10 or so points behind it, and then the uMkhonto weSizwe Party behind the DA, with the Economic Freedom Fighters bringing up the rear. That broader vote is still misdiagnosed as a racial vote, but the analysis is wrong there. [It] is an interests vote, and what that broader base has in common on interests is that it is relatively poor and is looking for a political option to address that. As soon as that changes and a person breaks into the middle class, their vote begins to lean to the DA.”