This year’s national elections diluted the celebration of 20 years of our hard-earned democracy.
It was all about political point scoring, nothing else. But you can’t blame political parties for that: the silly season was upon us. In the recent national elections, the ruling ANC’s votes dropped by 10 per cent in Gauteng. The West Rand region also contributed to the decline of voter support for the ANC. In Mogale City, the DA has gained enormous support. There are competing schools of thoughts as to why the ANC has performed poorly in the province compared to the previous elections. One of the theories is that the implementation of the unwanted e-tolls and Nkandlagate contributed to the decline. On the other hand, the governing party is playing a blame game. Apparently the Provincial Executive Committee is pointing a finger at the Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane’s “dirty vote” comment. I think the reason for the decline is service delivery. I only can speak for the West Rand. If one had to compare Soweto and West Rand, you’ll see a stark difference in terms of development. Soweto is developing rapidly; the same cannot be said about the West Rand. Development is at a snail’s pace in the region.
For instance, take Bekkersdal – the area remains the same as it was before. When visiting the area, the veteran struggle hero Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said “the government is failing our people in Bekkersdal”.
This explains why there is so much turmoil in that area.
My considered view is that it is unrealistic for the ANC to expect its voter support to increase or remain the same after 20 years of our hard-earned democracy, especially in Gauteng. After 20 years of democracy, voter behaviour changes. The ruling party is well aware of that. But is it ready for change? Its behaviour suggests otherwise. It behaves as if it has been caught off guard. Gauteng is the economic hub of the country. People move from the rural areas to Egoli to seek a better life. This puts a constraint on the provincial government to deliver.
On the other hand, residents expect nothing but superb service delivery from government. Instead of pointing fingers at each other, the ruling party should work on finding the real reason for the decline in the province and work on winning its much-needed votes. Shifting blame won’t help the party recover its lost ground.
