MALAIKA MAHLATSI | DA advert shows the party has ceasedto be ...

The DA launched its election advert which aired on television last Sunday. The advert opens with an expected line: “This election is about survival.” There’s nothing wrong with this – opposition parties must justify their existence by painting an image of catastrophe under the sitting government. It’s a worldwide practice.

It creates a climate of anxiety that pushes even the most apathetic of people to cast their votes. But what happens after this statement is unthinkable. With a voice-over boldly stating: “The ANC will lose the majority vote for the first time in 30 years, but will do anything to stay in power”, a distressing image can then be seen – the national flag burning.

As the flag is being engulfed by fire, slowly disappearing into ash, the voice-over continues: “Imagine a coalition between the ANC, the violent EFF and the Zuma faction. Under this coalition of corruption, life will only get worse... This election is about survival,” and as an intact flag is now rolled out, the advert concludes: “Unite to rescue South Africa. Vote DA.”

The advert has divided South Africans, with some defending it as radical and others, as distasteful. For some, the burning of the flag is nothing more than an allegory of what the future of SA means under the government of the ANC or a coalition between the said party,  the EFF and MK Party.

For others, it is an affront to the values that hold our hard-won democracy together. For me, the entire advert is reflective of a DA that has ceased to be concerned about its racism. Where in the past it used to invest in presenting itself as a party that believes in the equality of races, under the leadership of John Steenhuisen, the DA has come out to assert its true identity – one that is steeped in racism. Curiously, this showing by the DA tends to happen towards elections.

Towards the 2021 local government elections, the DA ran a campaign in Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal, with posters reading: “The ANC called you racists, but the DA calls you heroes” plastered all over the  area. Phoenix, a predominantly Indian area, had been the site of unimaginable violence against black people just months prior.

During the July 2021 riots, businesses across  Gauteng and KZN were looted and vandalised. Under the pretext of defending their private properties, the community of Phoenix used extrajudicial means to maim and kill black people – many of whom were innocent and had been falsely accused. Despite the uproar that the posters provoked, the DA initially stubbornly refused to apologise.

Now, with a few weeks to go before the general election, the DA has once again resorted to tactics that reflect its disregard for black people. The burning of the South African flag in its election campaign advert is reflective of how little value it places on symbols of democracy. This is because for the DA, democracy represents an equality between races which the party cannot and will not accept.

The DA could’ve burned flags of the ANC, EFF and MK Party. It specifically chose the national flag because it doesn’t believe in what SA as a democracy represents. It doesn’t accept the values that our democracy reflects. But the issue is not only about the flag, it’s also about the swart gevaar (black danger) language used in the advert.

By referring to the EFF, a party that is uncompromising in its pro-black politics, as “the violent EFF”, the DA is communicating that black people are violent and should be feared.

Its grammar is straight from the Broederbond. Make no mistake, the burning of the national flag is not a radical and profound protest. It’s an expression of the DA's contempt for the democratic project.