ANC and DA ‘do damage control’ for their election campaigns

The ANC and the Democratic Alliance (DA) election campaigns were both characterised by damage control as they fought to minimise their probable losses in their supposed strongholds, says an expert.

Independent political analyst Sandile Swana said the two biggest parties were on the defensive in their constituencies as they campaigned for tomorrow’s national and provincial elections.

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On one hand, the ANC was facing an onslaught from both the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) and Inkatha Freedom Party in KwaZulu-Natal and a possible ousting by a DA-led coalition in Gauteng.

On the other hand, the DA was under the threat of being ousted by a combination of the coloured and Muslim parties in the Western Cape.

Downward trajectory

“The DA and the ANC are definitely on a downward trend,” said Swana.

“The two biggest parties have had to see what they can do to limit their losses – with the DA trying to limit its losses nationally but, more specifically, in the Western Cape. But we expect them to be reduced anyway because of the latest political blunders they have made.”

Swana said the emerging and smaller parties tried to take advantage of the fact that both the ANC and the DA were losing support gradually and their dominance was waning.

“Many parties decided to put all their energies where they could get the most votes and win as many as possible,” Swana said.

The parties had to remember who their constituencies were and spend time at home, especially for the smaller ones, he said.

With election campaigning now over and rallies concluded, many parties had done what they can to win the hearts of the electorate.

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Another expert said the parties did not conduct clean campaigns and displayed immaturity and talked over the electorate.

The “big boys” – the ANC, DA and the Economic Freedom Fighters – had an advantage over the smaller parties. The three could afford to run elaborate national election campaigns because they were well-resourced, in addition to having extensive national footprints.

Swana said many parties, especially the smaller ones, concentrated on areas where they could get the best return on investment.

The ANC was worried about KZN and Gauteng, so it deployed its high-profile leaders and former leaders in those provinces.

The DA was bothered by the united voice of the coloured parties in the Western Cape but put a brave face throughout its campaign.

He said the African Transformation Movement was quite visible in the Eastern Cape. Even ActionSA had to remember the bulk of its support was in Johannesburg and in the Gauteng area, before thinking about its possible support in Northern Cape and elsewhere.

The smaller Muslim and coloured parties had to capitalise on the Western Cape to face the giant, DA. “Parties had to be strategic in their campaigns, bearing in mind that both the DA and the ANC are definitely on downward trends.

“So the two biggest parties had to see what they could do to limit their losses,” Swana said.

Transactional and aggressive tactics

Another analyst, Sanusha Naidu, did not believe political parties had done enough campaigning. But they tended to be transactional and aggressive.

“They had been pushing out more to secure themselves at the polls, as opposed to talking to people. A lot of the campaigning, a lot of the way their strategies had been framed, have been very aggressive.

“They’ve been talking past the electorate in many ways. It’s almost telegraphing what you want the electorate to hear, but not really saying how you’re going to do it,” Naidu said.

“They are making a lot of promises they won’t be able to keep, even if they are to unseat the ANC or there is a national coalition. “You are not going to change policy overnight. Those are the things where perhaps the immaturity of political parties tends to show itself.

“To a large extent that is the modus operandi. “I don’t think the political parties have done enough.

“They concentrated more on trying to destroy the opposition,” Naidu said.