Campaigning for the municipal elections happening on Monday (November 1) would have started much earlier under normal circumstances, but Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown measures resulted in political parties drastically changing their campaign strategies.

WATCH: Political analyst Wayne Sussman tells Izak du Plessis what the bigger parties have been getting right on the campaign trail.

There were no stadiums filled with thousands of people, no massive rallies, no town hall debates with cheering supporters, and no church events at which politicians gathered public support.

It was only in the past few weeks that political parties were able to get nearer to their voters. While the new order of things could have negatively impacted campaigning, bigger parties used their available time well, says independent political analyst Wayne Sussman.

“The ANC, which is ridden with factionalism, corruption scandals and the consequences of bad service delivery in the municipalities it controls, focused its energy on President Cyril Ramaphosa as the face of the party,” says Sussman.

“The president literally toured the country in the past three weeks to convince voters to give the ANC another chance, admitting that the party is not up to par.”

According to Sussman, Ramaphosa is the ANC’s saving grace. Sussman says many voters indicated they would vote for the ANC to support Ramaphosa, despite the scandals in the party.

“The DA, which is battling issues like racism, leadership problems and, in some cases, even its integrity, did well to focus on its history as a party that can deliver wherever it is in control.”

But it is the EFF and the FF+ that will go into these elections stronger than before, he says. “These two parties have run seamless campaigns without any scandals, and they will get the dividends for that,” says Sussman.