DA is losing support under Maimane: poll

reactor_sa said:
The problem in many areas is the local DA only has councils and not the ruling party in that area, there isn't a heck of a lot they can do in many instances.

And of all the local parties, the DA is at least the lesser of many evils. Better than not voting at all, that's for sure. I mean who can deny that the cape is better governed than all the other province's.
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Yeh sure, the Cape Town is - but how long have the DA been in power here, and how was it before?

And I will definitely be voting, I just won't be wasting it on a useless ward counciller.
 
eehellfire said:
I'm not sure how 650 adequately represents a popular voter count of 4 million (2014 general election numbers)
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Actually 31.4m population size..

Since there is no indication that all 650 of their sample actually vote...

650 is a sufficient sample size if one knows the assumptions etc etc etc that are made and that they are valid... since we don't know, then its no where NEAR sufficient.
 
Pitbull said:
I'm sure we all know how seats work. Having one part with more seats than another helps with pushing issues without needing to drag in other parties to help vote. The more seats 1 party has the more power they have. Giving 4 seats to the FF+ means what in the greater scheme of things when those 3 added seats to the DA as an example would be more effective. Sure, every party has a voice. But how loud your voice is will directly be determined by the amount of seats you have.
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But then the DA could hypothetically agree to a coalition with the FF+ in order to oppose the ANC in whichever council something like that happened. This means that the smaller party would not be entirely powerless and forces the larger party to potentially make concessions.
 
garp said:
But then the DA could hypothetically agree to a coalition with the FF+ in order to oppose the ANC in whichever council something like that happened. This means that the smaller party would not be entirely powerless and forces the larger party to potentially make concessions.
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Not disagreeing with you. As I said, it determines the loudness of your voice. Instead of having to look for 30 other seats to help you get a notion passed, you might only need 27 and won't have to ask the FF+ as an example. The more votes for the official opposition the better.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
Difference is that the DA is a more efficient and less corrupt ANC. The EFF are extremists. I would rather continue under ANC rule than to live under the EFF...
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Yes, but that is your choice and you vote according to your choice, not according to whoever happens to be the biggest opposition party.

Many people feel that the DA is a party that represents white monopoly capitalism and would rather continue under ANC rule than to live under the DA. You might think they are stupid and they might think you are stupid but when you get down to it, it is their choice, just like it's your choice, and you vote according to your choice, not according to whoever happens to be the biggest opposition party.
 
Pitbull said:
Not disagreeing with you. As I said, it determines the loudness of your voice. Instead of having to look for 30 other seats to help you get a notion passed, you might only need 27 and won't have to ask the FF+ as an example. The more votes for the official opposition the better.
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But that's exactly the point of voting for a smaller party whose policies you agree with more. Their voice will be heard when the larger party is forced to play nicely with them to pass motions/etc. Voting for the larger party even if you don't agree entirely with their policy just because it is more convenient for them to pass a motion is not helpful. Your vote wouldn't be lost, or go to the opposition, it would still count in the horsetrading that will go on.
 
garp said:
But that's exactly the point of voting for a smaller party whose policies you agree with more. Their voice will be heard when the larger party is forced to play nicely with them to pass motions/etc. Voting for the larger party even if you don't agree entirely with their policy just because it is more convenient for them to pass a motion is not helpful. Your vote wouldn't be lost, or go to the opposition, it would still count in the horsetrading that will go on.
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It always amazes me that people seemingly just want to have somebody rubber stamp whatever nonsense the party in power comes up with.
 
C4Cat said:
It's not about DA vs ANC - I don't think either party is what this country needs
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And that's my point - for the upcoming elections is it exactly that: DA vs ANC

Do it properly next time, just get rid of the ANC by giving one party the majority so they can possibly WIN instead of keeping them the official opposition.
 
Well what are the choices really
- EFF who want to take my land without reimbursing (like Mugabe).
- The ANC who hasn't done a positive thing since Zuma came to power.
or
- The DA who are the only party that stand for anything good and just in this country.

Pretty easy choice for me
 
garp said:
But that's exactly the point of voting for a smaller party whose policies you agree with more. Their voice will be heard when the larger party is forced to play nicely with them to pass motions/etc. Voting for the larger party even if you don't agree entirely with their policy just because it is more convenient for them to pass a motion is not helpful. Your vote wouldn't be lost, or go to the opposition, it would still count in the horsetrading that will go on.
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Agreed. But if you party has 1 seat, no matter what they stand for and what you agree with them it will never happen. Let's assume the AWB has a seat in parliament and I supported their view. Will they force white extremism on anything? Very hypothetical I know but that's the point. Rather vote for a party that has similar views to your with compromises than vote for a party which encapsulates your view 100% but have no clear supporters base and is way too small to make any sort of impact. Me voting for the DA has nothing to do with me supporting all their views on topics and changes but with me supporting some of their views and if those views can be addressed with their loud voice then so be it.
 
Hamster said:
And that's my point - for the upcoming elections is it exactly that: DA vs ANC

Do it properly next time, just get rid of the ANC by giving one party the majority so they can possibly WIN instead of keeping them the official opposition.
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But then you're stuck with a party in power whose policies you don't agree with and who might make life more difficult with their protection of white monopoly capitalism. So you would be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

It's not DA vs ANC at all. It's DA vs ANC vs EFF vs UDM vs IFP vs APC vs Agang vs COPE vs FF+ etc, etc.

There is no need to limit your choices to the best of 2 evils.

All we need is to get to a point where NO party has an outright majority against the other parties combined. That is the best way forward, so everybody's interests are represented.
 
garp said:
Exactly. Grudge voting for a party you don't like just to keep out a party you don't like more is not the way it should work.
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It is however exactly how democracy does currently work.

In the absence of such a party, it is also quite acceptable to spoil your vote. If enough people did that, the mainstream parties would also catch a wake up to the fact that there is a large constituency that they are not appealing to.
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If they still get their seats they won't care one way or the other.

Garson007 said:
Bull****. There are no minimums for proportional seats.
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So if there were ten million parties and each received one vote they'd put ten million seats in parliament?

C4Cat said:
I don't see any point in that. I say you should rather vote for whichever opposition party best represents your interests and worldview
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There is no party that does that, and history in South Africa shows that even parties that are at least a little bit representative, for me, get no seats in parliament. I can say the same for other countries. Hence I'll vote to spread power in the way I consider most effective. Lots of little parties trying to take on a single large party is going to require those parties to be united in a common cause. More likely is that they'll spend their time bickering. Furthermore to co-operate it would involve horse trading, which invariably means whichever party I voted for will abandon whatever specific principles they espoused to garner my vote.
 
noxibox said:
It is however exactly how democracy does currently work.
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Not at all. Any party with sufficient votes gets seats that could break an ANC majority, it's not all or nothing.

noxibox said:
If they still get their seats they won't care one way or the other.
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I disagree. They will definitely care if they can see that there were potentially many more seats that they could capture next time around.
 
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