The Common Sense

In a lighthearted escape from the seriousness of South Africa's politics, Cyril Ramaphosa, appeared to draft the centerpiece of the DA's forthcoming local government election campaign.

In an amusing moment amid South Africa’s usually fraught politics, the Democratic Alliance (DA) yesterday celebrated an unexpected endorsement following comments from President Ramaphosa to the effect that the DA tended to govern better than his party did.

Over the weekend Mr Ramaphosa told a meeting of ANC officials and public representatives that “municipalities that do best are not ANC municipalities…and I can name it here…they are often DA municipalities…we need to ask ourselves what they are doing that is better than we are doing.”

Mr Ramaphosa’s view was not far off that of voter opinion in the country. The Common Sense dug up some 2022 Social Research Foundation (SRF) data that tested which parties had the best policies and provided the best leadership. In answer to those questions, the voting public was marginally more likely to identify the DA than the ANC. On the question of which party has good policies, 29% of voters said that it was the DA, as opposed to 28.6% which identified the ANC. On the question of which party provides good leadership, 30% identified the DA, as opposed to 26.2% which identified the ANC.

Helen Zille was quick out of the blocks, running a cartoon image of Ramaphosa in DA running garb on X.

DA spokesperson, Willie Aucamp, told The Common Sense that, “Today, the successes of DA governance were recognised by President Cyril Ramaphosa when he said at the FNB Stadium that DA governments are performing and that ANC councillors should look at the work of DA councillors. We are flattered, Mr. President, because now you know what millions of voters across South Africa know: Only the DA delivers...Today, President Ramaphosa could not have been more clear when he said: "we want to go and see what Cape Town is doing" and "we want to go and see what Stellenbosch is doing".

Speaking off the record, ANC representatives said that Ramaphosa's comment was devastating for the party and had deepened the sense of rudderless loss that was already permeating its ranks ahead of local government polls set for 2026 or early 2027.