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Smaller parties ‘starting to play a bigger role’ in SA ahead of 2024 elections
New political parties are important for alternative voices in elections, says politics and governance expert Dr Bernard Sebake.
Ousted former DA Western Cape legislature speaker Masizole Mnqasela launched his own political party called Alliance of Citizens for Change (ACC). Picture: Facebook
As the anticipated 2024 elections draw nearer, new political parties springing up across South Africa indicate a matured democracy that allows for alternative voices, and should be welcomed.
This is according to Nelson Mandela University politics and governance expert Dr Bernard Sebake.
South Africans are by now used to new political formations and politicians crossing the floor ahead of every election. This year is no different.
This past weekend, Western Cape politics had a new addition in the form of the Alliance of Citizens for Change (ACC).
Former Democratic Alliance (DA) legislature speaker Masizole Mnqasela said he formed ACC to effect “real change” for citizens.
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‘New voices are important’
Sebake dismissed the sentiments of some of the bigger parties which accuse newcomers of splitting the vote and thus leaving them disadvantaged at the polls.
“New political parties are needed for alternative voices. The problem with South African politics is that we’ve been languishing under a dictatorship of no alternative for so many years.
“I think we have a problem which is this blind loyalty that doesn’t accept any paradigm shift. Whenever a smaller party starts defining itself in the political landscape, bigger parties feel threatened.
“Smaller parties are starting to have a bigger role to play.”
According to Sebake, voters follow an individual leaving a party because they believe in that leader’s values and what he promises to do for society.
“The voter resonates with that party as long as that individual is still there. Obviously, such leaders get little votes in bits and pieces, but they never leave alone.
“They take with them party supporters who believe in what they stand for.”
Sebake referred to ActionSA, formed by former Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba after leaving the DA in 2020.
ActionSA was formed ahead of the 2021 local government polls, and opted to contest in a few municipalities where they gained support from largely DA and African National Congress (ANC) voters.
Post-1994 small parties dissipated
Post-1994 saw smaller parties – such as KISS Party and the Soccer Party – launch campaigns with fanfare and making it onto the ballot paper alongside favourites such as ANC and the now-defunct National Party.
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However, parties such as KISS and Soccer have since disappeared and are long forgotten by voters.
Sebake says the current period is very different from 1994’s political and historical agenda, and that voting was largely along racial lines at the time.
“Whites went for the National Party and other smaller white parties that promoted white dominance. But for all other broad churches, as long as you were black and understanding the history of the country, you would simply go for the ANC.
“Those were the politics of the time. However, for a person who contested under the Soccer or KISS party, post-1994 elections were a great festivity for many, especially those who never voted before, especially black people,” Sebake said.
Towards a coalition government
Elections, said Sebake, are not about how many parties there are, but what change they bring to society.
“These years everyone realises that being on the ballot is an opportune moment that we must be cherish.
“Also, if they get allocated a seat, they create symbiotic political relations based on their ideological context as they form a government.
“And this is why the South African voter is further leading us to a possible coalition of parties after the 2024 elections.”
Other individuals who formed political parties in recent months include former newspaper editor Songezo Zibi, who formed Rise Mzansi, and former DA Midvaal mayor Bongani Baloyi, who started Xiluvha.
Baloyi had a short stint at ActionSA after leaving the DA.
Meanwhile, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has had a few breakaway parties, with the latest one preparing to launch next month.
Former EFF members in KwaZulu-Natal have formed African Economic Freedom (AEF), whose goal of “attaining economic freedom” is similar to that of their previous political home.
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