That's if, as some pollsters are predicting, the ANC loses its majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela took power at the end of apartheid three decades ago.
That outcome in May's elections would potentially make the Democratic Alliance's John Steenhuisen a kingmaker.
"The unknown is, who is going to be sitting on the other side of the table when you say 'we'll talk with the ANC?' Does Cyril Ramaphosa survive being the first ANC president to lose their majority?"
The ANC's Deputy Secretary General Nomvula Mokonyane has said the party was not considering a coalition government.
"If you know what South Africa has gone through, coalitions will not work."
Steenhuisen also said his focus is the multi-party charter the DA formed with several smaller parties.
The grouping includes the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party, Freedom Front Plus which appeals to rural white South Africans who feel politically marginalized since the fall of apartheid, and Action SA, which has built a platform on a tough anti-immigration stance.
Steenhuisen said that if this opposition coalition doesn't win the vote, then his priority would be preventing the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters from getting a seat on the executive.
"I'm not ruling out anything, depending on what the election results are going forward. I won't sit back and just watch the country be handed over to radical socialists, because I've seen what happens to countries where that happens, and I've seen the mass emigration from places like Zimbabwe and Venezuela. I've seen the starvation, I've seen the unemployment, I've seen the suffering and hunger. I don't want that for South Africa."
The EFF is popular with poor, Black South Africans.
It promises to nationalize industries and fix inequalities in land ownership.
That's at odds with the DA which is seen as a pro-business party.
Steenhuisen said, the DA, if in power, would pursue privatization of the power sector rather than relying on state provider Eskom.
He also reiterated the DA policy of abandoning the ANC's flagship Black empowerment scheme in favor of one focused solely on reducing poverty, regardless of color.
Race remains a divisive issue in South Africa and the DA is still seen by many as the party of white privilege.
Steenhuisen denied this and insisted that the biggest beneficiaries of "good, clean, accountable government are poor, marginalized South Africans."
