On the 5th of May, the Democratic Alliance released a highly controversial ad featuring a South African ad burning as the central visual focus. The message was clear. Vote DA, or the country and its institutions will burn down.

After immediate virality, Hellen Zille doubled down on her X (formerly Twitter) account. Zille argued that “SA's economy and democratic institutions will burn if the ANC/EFF/MK/PA come to power.” A sentiment reflected by the portrayal of the burning flag.

The grim reality of the condition of South African politics is revealed in these complimentary statements. The handful of parties mentioned will command a healthy majority of the vote come the 29th of May. Thus, according to the situation detailed by the DA, this leaves the country with no feasible future in which the economy and democratic institutions of the nation survive.

Perhaps it is revealing that South Africans are more enraged over the image of the flag burning than the prospect of the country itself burning down.

However, in the video itself, the narrator is specific in highlighting the dangers of an ANC and EFF or MK coalition. Reading between the lines, the DA is still extending a possible olive branch towards the ANC or moderate factions within the ANC. Undoubtedly reflecting the words of several DA leaders, including John Steenhuisen who has said a DA-ANC coalition is not off the table.

The DA's advertising, based on the words of the DA leadership, is either highly subversive in not highlighting the "solution" as being an ANC-DA coalition or incredibly naive/dishonest in perpetuating the idea that the DA or Multi-Party Charter has any prospects of winning the election. It is far-fetched to suggest the MPC will even form the largest voting block. The Multi-Party Charter sits at about a third of the latest polling conducted by IPSOS.

The cruel irony of the DA’s latest campaigning is that they highlight that the ANC will retain their grasp over national governance. As such, the destruction of the South African institutions will continue. Despite this, the DA continues to reject radical solutions, pander to people who will never vote for the DA and neglect the political will of its only stalwart province, the Western Cape.

While the Democratic Alliance's latest TV ad is provocative, it speaks to the fundamental reality of our circumstances. This election is the most important since 1994. The ANC will continue to erode the structural institutions of the nation. Perhaps it is time to find legal solutions for the Western Cape to avoid this terminal decline. Devolution, autonomy or an independence referendum have all been discussed at length. What needs to be prioritised is not outrage over the imagery of the flag burning. What we need is solutions.

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