Misplaced Pages

Democratic Party Demokratiese Party (Afrikaans)
Afrikaans name	Demokratiese Party
Abbreviation	DP
First Leaders	Zach de Beer Denis Worrall Wynand Malan
Last Leader	Tony Leon
Founded	1989 (1989)
Dissolved	24 June 2000 (2000-06-24)
Merger of	PFP NRP Independent Party
Succeeded by	Democratic Alliance
Headquarters	Cape Town Western Cape
Ideology	Liberalism Conservative liberalism Anti-apartheid
Political position	Centre-right
International affiliation	Liberal International
Colours	Blue
Slogan	"Fight Back"
Politics of South Africa Political parties Elections

The Democratic Party (DP) was a South African political party that was the forerunner of the Democratic Alliance. Although the Democratic Party name dates from 1989, the party existed under other labels throughout the apartheid years, when it was the Parliamentary opposition to the ruling National Party's policies.

Background

The Progressive Federal Party had formed the main parliamentary opposition to the Apartheid regime in the whites-only House of Assembly since 1977. But the party was ousted as the official opposition in the 1987 election and pushed into third place behind the far-right Conservative Party, which opposed even the limited reforms the NP had recently implemented. This led to great disillusionment amongst South Africa's white liberal community, and some questioned the merit of continuing to serve in the apartheid parliament. By 1989, they had regrouped, however, and aimed to strengthen the white parliamentary resistance to apartheid; the Progressive Federal Party merged with two smaller reform-minded parties, the Independent Party and the National Democratic Movement (NDM), to become the Democratic Party. The new party had three co-leaders from each of the parties that had entered the merger: Zach de Beer, Denis Worrall and Wynand Malan. De Beer, from the dominant PFP-faction, eventually became the sole leader, however.

History

The DP showed its political strength by winning a local by-election in the mostly Afrikaner Linden suburb in Johannesburg, described as a "shock upset" that showed the NP that voters were ready for change. It went on to win 34 seats in the 1989 election, up from 20 before the vote.

In 1990, the NP shifted its race policies towards the centre. President F. W. de Klerk released Nelson Mandela and announced the unbanning of struggle organisations such as the African National Congress, while embracing liberal democracy and opening up its membership to all races. This shift narrowed the political space available to the DP, and the party saw itself further marginalized during the Codesa negotiations which were dominated by the ANC and NP. In the 1994 election, the party won a disappointing 7 seats in the democratic parliament.

Post-1994

Following the 1994 election, Tony Leon became the party's sole leader.

Under Leon's leadership, the DP would become the most active and influential opposition party in the National Assembly, despite its small size. A mid-term review in 1997 found that the party's seven members of parliament had asked 50% as many parliamentary questions as the members of the National Party, despite being more than ten times smaller. In 1998, political columnist Howard Barrell wrote that "Seven DP MPs make their National Party counterparts look like 80 feather dusters". The DP won its first local by-election in a traditional NP constituency in March 1997, and this was followed by several others.

1998 to 2000

By 1998, the party was growing its support base significantly, and after the 1999 election, the DP, under the leadership of Leon, became Official Opposition to the ANC-led government, winning 38 seats. In the Western Cape province, it achieved kingmaker status and became the junior partner in a governing coalition with the renamed New National Party (NNP).

This electoral success came at a price, however. The party's new supporters largely came from the National Party and consisted overwhelmingly of ethnic minorities, mainly whites. The DP had contested the 1999 election with a highly negative campaign under the controversial slogan "Fight Back", and many, such as ANC President Thabo Mbeki, were of the view that it was "the transformation of the DP into a right wing political party" that allowed it to capture these voters. Leon and other party leaders dismissed this, however, maintaining that the new supporters would not lead the DP to change its principles. Instead, he said the new recruits would have to ascribe to the liberal-democratic values to which the DP had historically adhered.

Formation of the Democratic Alliance

To unify national opposition against the ANC government, the DP and the NNP began planning a merger of the two parties. Accordingly, they formed the Democratic Alliance (DA) in June 2000. The merger agreement was short-lived, with the NNP leaving the alliance in 2001, but the DA closed ranks and retained the new creation, establishing it at all levels of government from 2003 onwards.

Election results

See also

• Contributions to liberal theory
• Liberal democracy
• Liberalism
  • Liberalism in South Africa
  • Liberalism worldwide
• List of liberal parties

References

1. "Liberals fought the good fight — Subscribe — Politicsweb".
2. Barrell, Howard (7 August 1998). "Dear Lord, have mercy on 'Kortbroek'". Retrieved 31 January 2021.
3. ^ "Discontented whites pin hopes on 'liberal'". the Guardian. 4 June 1999. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
4. ^ "The DA playing up 'swart gevaar' is the legacy of Tony Leon". The Citizen. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
5. "The politician who sells absolution". the Guardian. 21 May 1999. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
6. "ANC Today — Volume 1 No 46". 7 December 2001.
7. Institutions, Ethnicity, and Political Mobilization in South Africa, page 133

External links

• Democratic Alliance website

v t e Politics of South Africa
By province	Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga North West Northern Cape Western Cape
Political movements	Ideologies African nationalism Afrikaner nationalism Anarchism Anti-war Black consciousness Environmentalism Federalism Feminism Liberalism Libertarianism Pan-Africanism Non-racialism Trotskyism Political parties see South Africa political parties Other political organisations AfriForum Afrikanerbond Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA) Congress of South African Students (COSAS) Earthlife Africa Keep Left Khanya College Koeberg Alert Lesbian and Gay Equality Project (LGEP) People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) South African Liberal Students' Association (SALSA) South African Students Congress (SASCO) South African Wine Initiative Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF)
Trade unions and Social movements	see South Africa trade unions Equal Education Mandela Park Backyarders People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) Poor People's Alliance Abahlali baseMjondolo Landless Peoples Movement Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign Reclaim the City Social Justice Coalition Treatment Action Campaign Unemployed Peoples' Movement
Law	see South African law
Political culture	African Renaissance Alternative media Azania Corruption (Don't) touch me on my studio Freedom Charter Proudly South African Rainbow nation Renaming Tenderpreneurs Toyi-toyi Ubuntu UnFreedom Day White monopoly capital Ungovernability Xenophobia Anti-Chinese sentiment Anti-Indian sentiment Slogans "Amandla Ngawethu!" "No Land! No House! No Vote!" "Dubul' ibhunu" (Shoot the Boer) "One Settler, One Bullet" "Each One, Teach One" Books and periodicals African Communist Amandla ANC Today Biko I Write What I Like Long Walk to Freedom Molotov Cocktail No Land! No House! No Vote!
Other	Corrective rape Crime Cape Independence Elections e-tolling Farm attacks Gupta family HIV/AIDS Labour brokering Land occupations Legacies of apartheid Lindela Phala Phala robbery Political assassinations Political repression Protests Sexual violence Shack fires Terrorism Third Force
Category

v t e Political history of South Africa
Defunct polities	Kingdom of Mapungubwe (c. 1075–c. 1220) Dutch Cape Colony (1652–1806) Mthethwa Paramountcy (c. 1780–1817) Ndwandwe Kingdom (c. 1780–1819) Cape Colony (1795–1910) Zulu Kingdom (1816–1897) Natalia Republic (1839–1843) Natal Colony (1843–1910) Orange Free State (1854–1902) South African Republic (1856–1902) Griqualand East (1861–1879) Griqualand West (1870–1873) Goshen (1882–1883) Stellaland (1882–1885) Nieuwe Republiek (1884–1888) Upingtonia (1885–1887) Klein Vrystaat (1886–1891) Orange River Colony (1902–1910) Transvaal Colony (1902–1910) Union of South Africa (1910–1961) Transkei (1976–1994) Bophuthatswana (1977–1994) Venda (1979–1994) Ciskei (1981–1994)
Events	Pre-colonial Bantu migrations Battle of Salt River 1652–1815 Dutch settlement French Huguenot settlement Khoikhoi–Dutch Wars Xhosa Wars Battle of Muizenberg Battle of Blaauwberg Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 1815–1910 Mfecane 1820 Settlers Great Trek Boer Republics Transvaal Civil War Mineral Revolution Witwatersrand Gold Rush South African Wars South Africa Act 1909 (National Convention) 1910–1948 South West Africa campaign Maritz rebellion Rand Rebellion Great Depression 1946 African Mine Workers' Union strike Bantustans Apartheid 1948 general election Apartheid legislation Pass laws Internal resistance Coloured-vote constitutional crisis Defiance Campaign Congress of the People Freedom Charter Women's March 1956 1957 Alexandra bus boycott Sharpeville massacre 1960 republic referendum International isolation UN Resolution 1761 UNSC Resolution 591 Academic boycott Disinvestment Constructive engagement Tar Baby Option Sporting boycott Olympics Rugby union Rivonia Trial Durban Moment Border War Israeli alliance Israel–South Africa Agreement Mafeje affair Soweto Uprising Weapons of mass destruction Project Coast Church Street bombing 1983 constitutional referendum Langa massacre Rubicon speech Operation Vula Dakar Conference Transkei coup d'état Ciskei coup d'état Venda coup d'état Third Force CODESA Storming of the Kempton Park World Trade Centre Bisho massacre 1992 apartheid referendum Saint James Church massacre Bophuthatswana crisis Shell House massacre Post- apartheid 1994 general election Government of National Unity Reconstruction and Development Programme Truth and Reconciliation Commission Arms Deal Floor crossing Soweto bombings African Renaissance Travelgate Xenophobia Attack on Kennedy Road Blikkiesdorp Marikana massacre 2012 Western Cape farm workers' strike Nkandlagate Racism 2014 platinum strike #RhodesMustFall protests #FeesMustFall student protests Tshwane riots 2019 service delivery protests 2019 Johannesburg riots COVID-19 pandemic 2020 Phala Phala Robbery 2021 unrest Lady R incident
Political culture	African nationalism Afrikaner Calvinism Afrikaner nationalism Anarchism Azania Baasskap Boerehaat Black Consciousness Movement Cape Independence Day of the Vow Greater South Africa Honorary whites Rooi gevaar Slavery Swart gevaar Uitlander Volkstaat
Defunct organisations	Civic and political organisations Afrikaner Bond Afrikaner Broederbond Afrikaner Party AITUP APO AVF BPC Black Sash Boerestaat Party CDA CNIP CTEG COD Congress Alliance COSG CP DLF Dominion Party DP (1973–1977) DP (1989–2000) DPP DSM ECC FA FD Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners GNP Het Volk HNP (Herenigde) HNP (Herstigte) IDASA ID IP ISL Jeugkrag Johannesburg Reform Committee Labour Party (1910–1958) Labour Party (1969–1994) Liberal Party (1953–1968) NA NCP Natal Indian Congress NLP NNP NP NPP NRP NUSAS Occupy Orangia Unie Oranjewerkers Orde Boerevolk PAVN PFP Progressive Party (Cape Colony) Progressive Party PRP Radio Freedom Reform Party SABP SADECO SAIC SASO SAYCO SAYRCO South African Party (Cape Colony) South African Party (1911–1934) South African Party (1977–1980) TNIP Torch Commando UFP United Party Unionist Party National Party of Venda Volksparty Workers Party WOSA Trade unions and social movements APF BCM BLATU CNETU CTSWU FCWU FNETU FOSATU ICU IWW MUSA NEUM NURHS PAWE SAAPAWU SACTU SAIF SARHU SATUC Die Spoorbund UDF Umkosi Wezintaba Paramilitary and terrorist organisations APLA ARM AWB BBB Boeremag Greyshirts MK Ossewabrandwag Orde van die Dood PAGAD SANF
Histories of political parties	African National Congress Democratic Alliance Pan Africanist Congress of Azania
Category

• Political parties established in 1989
• Political parties disestablished in 2000
• Defunct liberal political parties
• Defunct political parties in South Africa
• Liberal parties in South Africa
• Democratic Alliance (South Africa)