WSM: How subservient DA is enabling ANC acceleration of the hard left National Democratic Revolution

Veteran columnist William Saunderson-Meyer, in conversation with Alec Hogg, delivers a scathing critique of the Democratic Alliance’s role in the Government of National Unity. From the sidelining of Emma Powell to the silent complicity over Pretoria Girls High, Saunderson-Meyer warns the DA is trading its liberal soul for power - while Ramaphosa quietly accelerates the ANC’s National Democratic Revolution.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Watch here.Listen here.BizNews Reporter.In a searing interview with BizNews founder Alec Hogg, respected political columnist William Saunderson-Meyer accused the Democratic Alliance of complicity in the ANC’s ongoing ideological project. Instead of restraining radicalism, he argues, the DA has become an enabler - silently propping up a hard-left government while abandoning its principles and its people.Saunderson-Meyer, who pens the long-running “Jaundiced Eye” column on PoliticsWeb, did not mince words. “What one has is a Democratic Alliance essentially propping up a government which is hard left,” he said. “The GNU is the vehicle for the ANC’s National Democratic Revolution. Ramaphosa has been clear about that.”Despite only receiving 40% of the vote in the 2024 national election, the ANC continues to act as though it holds a majority. The DA, its junior partner in the Government of National Unity, has, in Saunderson-Meyer’s view, failed to provide the principled opposition it once promised.The interview comes amid public uproar over two incidents: the forced resignation of outspoken DA MP Emma Powell, and the Department of Education’s aggressive campaign against Pretoria High School for Girls. In both cases, the DA has remained notably silent.“Emma Powell was excellent at her job. That’s why she was removed,” Saunderson-Meyer said. “She was humiliated and intimidated. The DA’s parliamentary caucus didn’t say a word in her defence. The complicity was total.”Even more damning is the party’s silence on the campaign against the school’s headmistress, Philippa Erasmus—led by the Gauteng Education Department. Despite the DA controlling the national education ministry, no defence has been offered.“It’s outrageous,” said Saunderson-Meyer. “The attacks on Pretoria Girls High have been cruel, personal and ideologically driven. And yet, not a peep from the DA.”He speculates that Powell’s ousting may have been the result of an unspoken deal. “I would not be surprised if her departure was demanded by Ramaphosa behind closed doors. The DA didn’t fire her directly - but they made it clear she would get no support.”.Read more:.BN Briefing: Emma Powell betrayed; Mkhwanzi watershed; What’s next for PHSG, Trump Tariffs; Palantir.The heart of the problem, he argues, is a leadership failure within the DA. While defending DA leader John Steenhuisen as someone in a difficult position, Saunderson-Meyer concedes that he has “been easily co-opted into a supplicatory role towards Ramaphosa.”“Compared to a Tony Leon or Helen Zille, Steenhuisen looks politically naïve. He’s eager to be part of the process - but the process is swallowing him whole.”And the damage is mounting. The party that once prided itself on liberal principles is now playing a double game: claiming to oppose authoritarianism while participating in its machinery.“They’re trying to have it both ways - being in government and being the opposition. But you can’t do both. The silence on Powell, the silence on Pretoria Girls—these are betrayals of the DA’s founding principles.”Hogg pressed Saunderson-Meyer on whether voters might feel deceived. After all, the GNU was sold as a pragmatic alternative to a radical-left coalition with the EFF and MK. But Saunderson-Meyer warns that the hard-left has already taken over from within.“What we have now is a hard-left government going balls to the wall to implement the National Democratic Revolution—and it’s being supported by the opposition party.”Still, the options are limited. While the Patriotic Alliance is gaining traction, he says it lacks liberal credentials. ActionSA, under the “idiosyncratic” Herman Mashaba, may be filling some of the DA’s old space—but it remains a work in progress. The Freedom Front Plus, meanwhile, has a low ceiling.Saunderson-Meyer sees Ramaphosa’s recent push to expand the GNU as a calculated move to dilute DA influence even further.“He wants to bring in pliable one-man parties. They’re easily bought, easily placated with a cabinet seat. The DA is furious, but the original GNU agreement doesn’t stop him.”Ultimately, he says, Ramaphosa has played the GNU like a chess grandmaster - “running rings around the DA.”The consequences of this alliance, he argues, are not abstract. They are felt in the silencing of principled voices, the erosion of liberal opposition, and the quiet acceleration of the ANC’s ideological revolution - all with the tacit consent of a party that once vowed to stop it.“The tragedy is that in a moment that demands courage and clarity, the DA has chosen expediency,” Saunderson-Meyer concludes.And as he warns, the cost of that choice may only be fully understood when it's far too late.

WSM: How subservient DA is enabling ANC acceleration of the hard left National Democratic Revolution

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