Elections 2024: Has the Moonshot Pact failed to launch?

JOHANNESBURG - With early signs of a poor showing by some parties in the Democratic Alliance (DA)-led Multi-Party Charter, it seems the Moonshot Pact has already been declared, dead even before the final tallies have been captured.

A pre-election coalition agreement, which included the DA, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), ActionSA, and the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), was hoping the partners would garner enough support at the polls to cobble together a government.

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But with the IFP not doing as well as expected in its strongholds, and with ActionSA’s debut seemingly having failed to capture the imagination of the electorate, some are already looking for new potential partners.

Judging by the numbers coming in at the national results operating centre, the Moonshot Pact did not only fail to reach its destination, but seemed to have also missed the stars - or even the clouds.

The DA’s idea of making it to the Union Buildings through a pre-election agreement has seemingly been dealt a blow, with some of its partners expected to share their views on what went wrong with their respective campaigns.

The FF Plus’ Wouter Wessels was at pains to admit that the numbers were simply not numbering.

“There might still be a different picture and tendencies that develop, but there is a clear sign that the multi-party as it stands will not be able to form a majority government.”

But Wessels said all was not lost, as some of the parties set their eyes on the country’s economic hub, Gauteng.

Meanwhile, the DA’s Helen Zille, in an interview with Newzroom Afrika, refused to rule out the idea of working with the African National Congress (ANC).