Elections 2014: The Democratic Alliance
A look at the country's biggest opposition party.
On 7 May residents will get to vote in the 2014 national elections.
As many voters are still undecided as to who they are going to vote for and a whole new generation of eligible voters has to make up their minds, the Record will be publishing a series of articles to introduce the different parties to voters.
In the first article we look at the Democratic Alliance (DA), the country’s main opposition party.
The Democratic Alliance was born from the Progressive Federal Party (PFP) and up until 2000 was known as the Democratic Party (DP).
Currently the party is not only the official opposition party but has been the governing party of the Western Cape since the 2009 elections.
At it’s helm is Hellen Zille who took over the reigns from Tony Leon in 2007.
The party is positioned at the centre of the political spectrum and is regarded as liberal, although it has been attributed both centre-left and centre-right policies.
The party has contested seats in the Roodepoort area fairly successful during the 2009 elections by taking most of the area’s wards.
At it’s election manifesto launch in Polokwane the DA has put heavy emphasis on job creation.
To find out what the DA’s election manifesto involves, read next week’s edition of the Record.
