The Democratic Alliance (DA) has launched its 2024 voter registration campaign ahead of next year’s national and provincial government elections, with the first wave of the party’s registration posters under the slogan ‘Register to Rescue South Africa’.

The DA has warned that the African National Congress (ANC) will remain in power if opposition voters do not register to vote. The party also noted that about 14-million South Africans are not registered to vote. The party remains hopeful of its chances of winning at next year’s elections given the results of the 2021 local government elections, where the ANC’s support dropped to 46% – losing its national majority for the first time.

The DA has condemned the rampant crime, corruption and loadshedding in the country and asserted that voter registration by the opposition could be a way of doing away with those issues.

“The Democratic Alliance stands ready to form the core of a new majority. The DA is the only party big enough to challenge the ANC, the only party with a proven track record of clean and effective governance across the country, and the only party with a suite of sound policy alternatives to change South Africa’s trajectory for the better. Where the DA governs, we are making progress to end loadshedding, create jobs, reduce crime, and deliver basic services to all South Africans,” says DA leader John Steenhuisen.

He added that registering to vote could prevent the danger of an Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)/ANC coalition government. 

Further, he promised that a vote for the DA could herald “a new political majority founded on the values of non-racialism, constitutionalism, and respect for the rule of law, the building of a state free from corruption, and a social market economy to create jobs”.

Steenhuisen says the 2024 general election will be a historic moment for South Africa, with citizens making the most important decision in the country’s post-democratic history. 

“2024 offers us a last chance to rescue South Africa from the tight grip of the ANC’s criminal state and pull our country back from the brink of state failure and the complete collapse of the South African democratic dream. In 1994, we voted for freedom. In 2024 we will vote to rescue South Africa from crime, corruption and unemployment, and ultimately to ensure our country’s survival,” Steenhuisen says.