DA Wrote To MK Party Requesting Talks — Weeks After Swearing It Would Never Work With Zuma

The Democratic partnership subtly sent an official letter to Jacob Zuma, president of the MK Party, demanding a sit-down meeting, three weeks after openly rejecting any partnership with uMkhonto weSizwe. Since then, political discourse in South Africa has been nonstop. The letter, signed by DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis, asked for a meeting between the two groups to see if they could discover any common ground. The timing caught experts off guard. The party that had publicly put a line in the sand was now attempting to get Zuma to meet with them.

Reportedly, the letter pleaded with Zuma to guide the MK Party toward collaboration with the DA rather than the African National Congress, and to reject any planned deal with the latter. Hill-Lewis presented the outreach as an effort to increase the scope of the governance discourse. A representative from the MK Party acknowledged receipt of the proposal and expressed interest in initiating exploratory negotiations; however, the representative emphasised that no formal agreement is in place. Tuesday saw no announcement of a formal engagement date.

According to DA national spokesman Willie Aucamp, the party is still dedicated to establishing an accountable and stable administration in every municipality where it has a presence. “Our door is open to any democratic formation willing to put service delivery above factional interests,” Aucamp told us. Beyond confirming that negotiations would move further, officials from the MK Party refused to say more. When this story was published, the ANC still hadn’t answered written queries.

This abrupt change of direction is the result of weeks of nasty post-election wrangling in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, where coalition maths has thrown unlikely allies together. The councils of many towns still can’t decide who will speak or approve budgets. Just last month, Hill-Lewis had spoken harshly about the MK Party, saying they couldn’t be in a constitutional government. My interpretation of the remark has changed.

An ex-Soweto schoolteacher by the name of Thandi Dlamini stood outside the ANC offices in Johannesburg on Monday morning, a hand-painted poster stating “Who are you protecting?” Instead of wearing party colours, she sported the verdant and gold of a civic movement. Nothing had been done to find out what the locals desired, she said. The message on her sign was louder than the throng that would have heard her speak.

There is a lot of debate about whether the DA’s approach shows real inclusivity or is just for show. Although these MK negotiations seem to be about consultation, veteran watchers believe that the ANC, DA, and Inkatha Freedom Party may already have a three-way deal in place behind closed boardroom doors. Every township is wondering, “Who is this coalition being built for?” as of tonight.

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