by LUKE MONTGOMERY ZUNGA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE election in South Africa showed democracy in motion. There are about 26 small parties which complained that the declared election results were not correct.
The results may not be what people expected, in the storm of contestations, and the overall outcomes and acceptance may be at risk.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) could have recounted or rechecked the ballots before declaring the results of the elections.
However, those who contested the results used the correct channels and legal routes to voice their concerns.
Further, there is inclusion and admission of political parties in parliament to address together the language of discontent from the citizens.
Many lessons still have to be learnt, now that system analysts evaluate that 9.3 million votes were misused or missing, after the crash of the IEC system. It immediately reminds of Zimbabwe where election software manipulations by Nikud, an Israeli software company, were a possible tool of vote rigging.
There are three major political parties in South Africa; the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
A political party is one which represents a particular grouping or opinion. All others are pressure groups, such as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), Action SA etc, although their manifestos carry the same message as political parties.
There will be a hive of analysis after the elections.
During election campaigning, the stadiums were full. Voters were listening and decided in the ballot box. Surprisingly, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) took a dive.
Despite filling stadiums, their message was rejected as the party achieved 9.5%, a drop from previous 10.8% in 2019. Assuming the results are correct, the EFF has to rebrand itself going forward, from its dress code, helmets, its message and style of parliamentary activism.
During the campaign all parties took a swipe at the ANC. The DA anchored its campaign at removing the ANC from power. What a turn around? Whether it is a Government of National Unity (GNU) or coalition the fusion of the ANC and DA, for all intents and purposes, was forced on them by certain powers.
Nobody can prove who the powers are. From intelligence, however, there are huge organizations, driven by FreeMasons, labelled as markets, who manipulate elections to suit imperialist desires. The markets feared the ANC coalition with EFF and MK.
The DA was coerced to swallow its pill, to choose the better evil by going into government with the ANC and President Cyril Ramaphosa to remain as President.
It may be good for the country for stability, continuity as far as control of fiscal management and service delivery is concerned. As to the core issue of job creation, there are few prospects where markets control government planning, which the DA is likely to enforce.
It is not a GNU, but a coalition which kept the door open to other smaller parties to disguise itself as a GNU.
Jacob Zuma caused the ANC to lose its majority. For good or worse he must be credited or discredited for the new coalition political thinking.
Zuma is fighting the ANC for allowing his persecutions. If he did not avoid jail, he would have achieved 55% of the vote, a clear majority and would have bragged themselves into power, oblivious of the complaints from the citizens.
Now they will be forced to listen and do more. Therefore, the star of this general election was Zuma and his Umkhonto we Sizwe Party (MK).
The ganging together of smaller parties in KwaZulu Natal (KZN), although legal and allowed constitutionally, to oust Zuma from control of KZN was technically unwise and could destabilize the province. Police reinforcements have been rushed to KZN province. However, it will still give Zuma more voice as the victim of the machinations of evil.
NB: Luke Montgomery Zunga is researcher and economist at the South African Development Foundation.
– CAJ News