Thomas Johnson - The Blog

  Tony Leon leaves an intact DA   When Tony Leon, leader of DA, retired from politics after 2009’s elections, the DA was a small but effective and functioning opposition party that had modestly grown in the decade after 1994.    The DA had maintained its liberal democratic values despite the left’s criticism its “fight back” election campaign was racist and anti-black.  They conveniently overlooked the fact it was a push against the corrupt ANC and of Jacob Zuma’s and his thieving cabal’s ascendancy.    The problem was Leon and DA had not properly explained the message beforehand and had to control the fallout which the ANC initiated and used to portray the DA as racist.  It was a marketing blunder and not racism.  Reasonable people knew this, though.   Now with state capture having gutted state and society, the DA’s campaign was appropriate for the time and prophetic.  As evidence of Zuma’s et al thieving gradually became p...

 The Democratic Alliance claims they are an alternative to the ANC as a governing party.  The corrupt ANC lest we forget.   There’s no dispute the ANC is unable to govern and are corrupt. Today with corrupter-in-chief Jacob Zuma no longer in power and barely functioning, the party and country are no better off.  Corruption flourishes under alleged reformer, the weak and effectual president Cyril Ramphosa, including in his cabinet under his nose. The National Prosecutions Authority’s disappointingly wishy washy head Shamila Batohi has yet to prosecute one grand corruption case. The status quo persists.   But is the DA as good as they, their supporters and uncritical media say?    They are better managers than the ANC but that’s because the ANC set the bar very, very low.  In fact, any party can govern better as proven by coalitions where the ANC failed to get an outright majority, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth being notable ex...