In Kenya, where Barack Obama's father and grandfather were born into the minority Luo ethnic group, there is a joke doing the rounds: it is said that a Luo has a much better chance of becoming the President of the United States than of Kenya.

The joke puts a light spin on a profound observation. In closed, patronage societies, it is unheard of for people outside the ruling cabal's network of patronage - whether that network is connected by race or ethnicity or religion or class - to be given the opportunity to lead their countries.

That is why I found it deeply ironic that Robert Mugabe congratulated Obama on his win.

Mugabe single-handedly turned his country into a closed, patronage society by eroding the rights of minority Ndebele-speakers and later majority Shona-speakers, by abusing state power for personal gain, by denying opportunities to all those outside his inner circle, and by refusing to concede defeat at the polls.

The Zimbabwean dictator interpreted Obama's victory through a racial prism; he saw it as an affirmation of racial identity. In fact, it was the exact opposite. It was the triumph of the open, opportunity society that enabled Obama to transcend racial barriers. Throughout his life he has recognised and used the opportunities open to him in America. He made it to the White House because he grew up in a society that is the antithesis of Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

This is the lesson that ANC President Jacob Zuma should also take to heart when he hails Obama's victory. But judging from the statements emanating from Zuma himself, as well as his family and the ANC, it seems the real insights escape them. They are still bound by the shackles of race, and see everything through a racial lens. They see Obama's victory as a racial victory.

They must understand that Obama's win did not symbolise the victory of any racial group. It was a triumph of a society which strives to ensure that all citizens have the opportunities they need to take responsibility for their lives, irrespective of the circumstances of their birth, and become the best they can be.

This is the vision that animates the DA. We call it the open, opportunity society for all. It stands in direct contrast with the ANC's philosophy of a closed, patronage society for some. Key features of the ANC's policy approach (including "cadre deployment" and "representivity") make the emergence of an Obama extremely difficult, if not impossible. That is why it is so ironic that the ANC has claimed Obama's victory as its own.

In his bid to become President, Obama had to take on the Washington elite, and the power-brokers in his own party. As he remarked so eloquently during his acceptance speech, he was never the likeliest candidate for President. He did not start with much money or many endorsements. And his campaign was "not hatched in the halls of Washington"; it began "in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston ".

The mere fact that Obama won his own party's nomination during the so-called "primaries" - and stared down the powerful Clintons in doing so - is a testament to the open, opportunity process of candidate selection in American politics. It is a process which guarantees transparency and affords the underdog the same chances as the bookmakers' favourite. It allows voters to examine the candidates, hear them debate, and judge them on the issues. That is why millions of white and Hispanic Americans voted for Obama. They considered him the most inspiring and competent candidate.

This would not have happened twenty (or even ten) years ago, because then America was still trapped in the politics of race. Obama's victory is such a triumph for the world precisely because it represents the transcendence of race, not the mobilisation of race in determining political choice.

It has taken America 221 years to reach that point. The good thing about being an emerging democracy is that we can learn from those who have gone before us. We must make this transition far more quickly. It is possible. The realignment of politics that has been underway in South Africa since the local elections of 2006, opens the door to new choices, and new forms of government (particularly coalitions). This phase is crucial in the process of overcoming the obsolete race-based political formations of the past, as we seek to bring together people on the basis of shared values, principles and policies.

The re-launch of the DA at Constitution Hill tomorrow reflects our belief that this is possible. Our re-launch is the product of a long period of self-reflection and internal renewal driven by our conviction that South Africa will succeed in becoming a stable, viable democracy. We have contributed much to this process through our role as an effective, strong opposition. Our re-launch marks our transition from being a party of opposition, to becoming a party of government.

This transition actually started in 2006, when we won several municipalities, including the City of Cape Town. Its trajectory will continue in the 2009 provincial and national elections, and snowball in the local government elections two years later, in 2011. By the time the 2014 national election dawns, the political terrain will be fundamentally realigned, opening exciting possibilities for issue-based rather than race-based voting.

Everything that we do from tomorrow onwards will be geared towards building the non-racial centre of South African politics and consolidating our democracy. The lessons of Obama's success have great relevance for this exciting new phase of South Africa 's political history, as the landscape realigns and parties begin to reconfigure on the basis of values, principles and policies. Obama rallied America with his slogan "Yes, we can". So can we. In fact, we must and we will!

This article by Helen Zille first appeared in SA Today, the weekly online newsletter of the leader of the Democratic Alliance, November 14 2008

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