LESSONS FROM SOUTH AFRICA

Political opposition parties in Africa should draw lessons from the recently held 2009 South African general elections chief among them that the opposition should attack the ruling party´s policies not those fellow opposition parties. Writes Simba Nembaware

The opposition in the biggest economy of the continent turned their energy from vilifying the ruling ANC to attacking fellow opposition, the Democratic Alliance which would disappoint them by going to win the Western Cape thereby declaring that it is the most formidable force to challenge ANC.

COPE, IFP, ID, UDM and others took turns to discredit the Helen Zille led party instead of putting their own profiles to the fore. Indirectly, they campaigned for the DA and the 67 seats in the national assembly that the party won came as a result of this stupid move.

Instead of campaigning fairly the Arthur Mutambara led Movement for Democratic Change discredited the Morgan Tsvangirai led faction by telling the rural electorate of Matebeleland that tsvangirai was working in cahoots with ZANU PF. There are incidents where in Bulilima villagers were told that Tsvangirai was a cousin of Robert Mugabe and voting for him was tantamount to voting for ZANU PF.

The race card does not work if people really want progress and democracy. The MDC has been tagged a white manś means of re-colonising Zimbabwe. Words like ¨mabhunu" (Boers; in Zimbabwe the word refers to all Europeans) have become synonymous with MDC. The DA was de-campaigned by the ANC and its fellow comrades in the opposition category on the trumped charges that the party was a vehicle for a return to Apartheid. But politicians forget that people think and dont take evry word that they say seriously because today through the vote of millions the MDC is today in parliament and in government. Today the Western Cape belongs to the DA and Zille will on Wednesday be declared the Premier of the province thanks to the racist attacks on the opposition.