DA and ID merge - 16th Aug 2010
The Independent Democrats'(ID) Patricia de Lille and the Democratic Alliance (DA)'s Helen Zille have hailed the merger of their parties as a marriage. Yesterday, amid great fanfare at the Kempton Park Civic Theatre, on the East Rand, De Lille and Zille announced a merger of their parties' membership, finances and structures.De Lille promised to prove wrong analysts who have said the merger will not last.
Well-known political analyst Steven Friedman said he did not believe the merged parties were a significant threat to the ANC, and that the DA and ID working together would have no impact on the 2014 general election.
News that the two parties had started talking emerged last year, after claims that De Lille's popularity had run its course and that the Independent Democrats could no longer attract significant numbers of members.
De Lille and Zille confirmed yesterday that they were talking to small opposition parties such as the United Democratic Movement (UDM) under Bantu Holomisa and the Congress of the People (COPE) under Lekota, about further mergers.
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