Friday marked the last day of voter registration after the announcement of the election date, May 29th. I have spent the last few days thinking about who I am voting for, but more importantly, who we are voting for as a nation. One thing that appears to be certain, at least on social media, is that people have had enough with the governance of the ANC. News24 makes it evidently clear that if “14 million unregistered young South Africans voted they could unseat the ANC.” However, it is unclear who would unseat them and who the real contenders are versus the pretenders.
Part of gearing up for the election, my political memory took me back to the 2020 United States election. The very intense and dramatic battle between Donald Trump, Republican, and Joe Biden, Democrat. After 4 long years of political mismanagement, impeachment, and the year ending with Covid, it was evident that there was growing sentiment that Donald Trump needed to be replaced with a more liberal individual. All American media, sports, and pop culture references urged everyone to take to the polls and take charge of their democracy. Voting at the time was on the minds of all Americans, especially those of minority communities. Many celebrities, foundations, and organizations placed resources and infrastructure to assist as many people as possible to register to vote and get around many of the obstacles that denied them their representation within their own democracy. In the end, Biden won the popular vote, received just over 51% of the popular vote, and received 81 million votes total, more than Obama. The people of America were successful in unseating Trump and taking control of their democracy. However, they were unique; the American only ever really had two options: Democrat and Republican. South Africa faced a large amount of diversity and options. So the question is who do we vote for, if we are even to vote together.
Let us start off with the new wave of parties. At the start of 2024, there were a total of 27 new political parties registered with the IEC. Most notably being Build One South Africa led by Mmusi Maimane, Mkhonto weSizwe led by Jacob Zuma, and Rise Mzansi led by Songezo Zibi. Not so new is ActionSA led by Herman Mashabe. Out of all these parties, there are many returning faces, individuals who have led in major parties. So would it be safe to assume they have the capacity to run the nation? We will only be able to truly answer after the elections. However, it is important to note that not all these parties have the objective to run the country but rather to be an alternative to the growing lack of satisfaction with ANC governance structure. Most recently in the polling data done in KwaZulu Natal, the ANC narrowly beat out MK party by 25% with MK being a close second at 24%. There is some evidence to say that these minor parties will be impactful at the provincial level but will unlikely be competing at the national scale. Only ActionSA holds more than 4 percent based on polling data.
There is probably an incentive to vote for the smaller and new parties as they provide a unique place for people to place their votes if they are unsure about who they want to vote for or simply want to move away from voting for the traditionally big 3. Moreover, I think they provide a good testing ground to see how they would use their influence and control on a provincial level. Indefinite that this election will lead itself to many coalitions as more political parties have been established than ever. It is important to consider how your vote affects the people who get a seat at the table. Engaging more with the big 3, potential 4 if you include the IFP, they all seem to be competing against themselves more than against one another. The ANC's largest concern is losing control of the national government, failing below 50 percent, being forced into coalition. The EFF and DA are competing for the official opposition but potential for a gateway into the national government as they potentially lead in coalition negotiations with the ANC. IFP uniquely looks to maintain some control over Kwazulu Natal as the ANC numbers decrease dramatically and MK party redirect votes from all these parties. It becomes a question of who to trust the most.
For many people, the most obvious party to frame out is the ANC who have held control from the dawn of democracy. Due to state failure, overwhelming reports of corruption, and lack of progress. It is evident that many people want to move away from the ANC. People want to go back to a more functional South Africa where the cost of living was not as high and the idea of middle class was more of a reality. This is then framed against the backdrop of the DA who is very anti-ANC and anti-socialist policy. They have continued to be the opposition of the ANC. This year as people speculate if the ANC will fall below 50 percent there are questions surrounding the potential partnership between the DA and ANC. However, do we vote with the potential hope that they will hold the ANC accountable and partner with them or do we believe they will double down on their policy? Finally, the EFF though relatively young and never having control of the province in comparison to their much older and larger counterparts. Have the ability to shift the political climate of this country as they, similar to the DA, could move away from their anti-ANC messaging and opt to partner with the ANC. They will have access to the lever of power for the first time. There are obviously issues around plausibility with the EFF opting to not attend the State of the Nation Address; they have drawn clear lines between them and the ruling party, the ANC.
So after all that information, the question is still who do we vote for. I believe that we all need to vote for the party that represents us and allows for South Africa as a country to progress. We do have to strongly consider their capacity to govern, their experience, and the overall history. However, no one party will be perfect. So it is about selecting a party that is as close to perfect as possible and ensuring they remain accountable throughout their five years of governance.
We were reminded not to fall for the words they say, the t-shirts they hand out, and their posters placed on every lamppost. But we should vote for people who have principle quality leadership, transparency, and honesty. History and background have been checked extensively to ensure we do not repeat the cycle of the last few years in our country. This election will be tough and is already weighing on all of us. It is important to remember that no choice is going to be the right choice but it will be the best choice for you.
I urge everyone who has registered to take to the polls, to do some reading, and engage in a little research about which parties they want to vote for. For the people who don’t like reading, go to Instagram and access @SoWeVote to get a summary of all the political parties and their policies or you can go read the manifesto.
We are uniquely positioned as the youth of the country between now and the time we vote to decide who we want to lead us. As Malcolm X says,
“Whenever any group can vote in a bloc, and decide the outcome of elections, and it fails to do this, then that group is politically sick.”
We ought not fall into the same ills which have captured our country and defined our democracy for the past 30 years. Let's take the polls and take control of our nation.