DA flag burning shows lack of nuance in messaging, says analyst
A political analyst has accused the DA of lacking nuance in its political messaging amid the fallout over the party’s latest election advert.
The advert was launched at the party's headquarters in Johannesburg on Sunday evening.
It has since been published on various social media platforms.
Addressing the media on Sunday evening, DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party wanted to convey an urgent warning on the perils faced by the country’s constitutional democracy.
"What you will see in this advertisement is a symbolic representation of the future that awaits South Africa if people do not vote for the DA.
“It is a warning of what this country’s future will look like under a Doomsday Coalition between the ANC, the EFF, and perhaps also MK and mercenary small parties like the Patriotic Alliance," said Steenhuisen.
However, political analyst Goodenough Mashego believes the number of Black leaders who have left the DA has had an impact on the party’s decision-making.
“The DA is suffering from the loss of Black talent because, at the time when all that black talent was leaving the DA, we all thought it was not going to affect the DA. Now, you can see it affects the way the DA is thinking because it took away the nuance in its messaging.
“The DA doesn’t understand that optics matter. It would have been nicer if the flag burning there was an ANC or EFF flag because it would have spoken to the message of corruption within the ANC and EFF. But when it’s a South African flag burning, the question is, what do you replace it with?”
At the same time, Mashego said the furore over the ad won’t impact the DA’s performance at the polls.
“When you burn a flag, you are burning a dispensation. You are saying there is something wrong with a dispensation, and this flag that is being burnt by the DA is only 30 years old. When you are burning that, it means you want to replace it with something.
“I think this is going to affect the DA, but not electorally, because that message speaks to its core electorate now, the rightwing who think they have the right to criticise the black government.”
South Africans will head to the polls on 29 May.
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