The leading and largest opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has indicated willingness for alliance and coalition with smaller parties, especially at the local level, in the build up to the elections in the country.
Mmusi Maimane, identified as the first black African to lead the centre-right party, had in an electioneering campaign promised over 5,000 supporters at the rally the DA would grow jobs, protect minority rights and unite the country.
South Africans will be going to the polls to vote and elect new leaders on May 8 for a sixth time since the end of apartheid in 1994. It was noted that while an all-out victory for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) is almost certain, the margin of its majority is set to drop following a decade of weak economic growth and a rise in racial violence.