Poetic licence

The Democratic Alliance didn’t stop the VAT increase. They tried to bargain with it. Now they want the applause. But behind their staged moral outrage lies a letter to the President offering to back the tax hike if government agreed to drop land reform. That’s not public service. That’s opportunism wrapped in blue. The party's supporters have flooded social media claiming victory, casting the DA as the only adult in the room while others fumbled.

But that story falls apart under scrutiny. In March, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana revealed that the DA had written to President Ramaphosa, expressing willingness to accept a 0.5% VAT increase on condition that the Expropriation Act be scrapped. In other words, the DA was prepared to trade a tax that would hit the poor the hardest, if it meant blocking land reform. That’s not fiscal responsibility, it’s ideological ransom.

This is where the DA’s white saviour complex reveals itself most clearly. It’s not enough for them to oppose bad policy; they have to be seen as the lone force of reason, the rescuers of a broken country, the heroes the township didn’t ask for. But when their backstage deals come to light, the mask slips. Their concern for the poor rings hollow when their priority was to protect property rights over people’s pockets. And yet, here they are, waving the victory flag, hoping no one reads the footnotes. The DA’s behaviour isn’t just dishonest, it’s disruptive.

At a time when the Government of National Unity is attempting to find its feet, the DA has chosen self-congratulation over solidarity. Instead of building consensus within the GNU, they staged outrage and spun a victory narrative that isolates them from the very coalition they’re meant to strengthen. That’s not principled opposition, it’s sabotage disguised as statesmanship. And let’s be clear: the VAT climbdown didn’t happen because of one party’s grandstanding. It came after mounting public pressure, fierce debate in Parliament, pushback from civil society, and the cold economic reality that another regressive tax would break the backs of millions. Many voiced their resistance, parties within and out of the GNU, even factions within the ANC.

The DA wasn’t a lone voice of reason. If anything, they were negotiating their own interests while others were defending the people outright. There’s a cost to this kind of political theatre. It erodes trust in coalition politics. It confuses the public. And worst of all, it distracts from real solutions. Instead of working to fix the tax system or propose progressive alternatives, the DA opted for optics over substance. The poor weren’t saved by a blue superhero, they were nearly sacrificed for a policy trade-off dressed up as patriotism. South Africa doesn’t need saviours in blue blazers. It needs honesty. The DA’s attempt to claim sole credit for stopping the VAT hike is just the latest act in their long-running performance: loud in public, deal-making in private. But this isn’t leadership. It’s self-interest with good PR. The poor deserve more than political theatre. 

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