ANC to come back weaker? Here’s who could be the political Big 5 after this year’s polls

Despite predictions that the ANC could lose a significant number of votes in this year’s elections, the party was still expected to emerge with a significant number of votes.

Top five parties

Political analyst Sipho Seepe said the ANC was expected to still receive a huge slice of voter support, despite polls predicting a decline in the votes they would get.

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“Even though it will win the majority of votes it is a party that is on a decline so it is not declining fast enough for it to be overtaken but declining it is,” Seepe said.

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Seepe said it was not easy to completely wipe out the ANC’s support base because the party had significant historical, political, and social capital.

“It is still the party of Mandela and most people associate it with that historical emotional capital,” Seepe said.

With the ANC expected to take first place Seepe said the DA and the EFF could find themselves battling for the second position to become South Africa’s official opposition.

Both parties have a strong support base and have proved themselves to be worthy contenders for the position of official opposition in parliament.

“It is not a given that the DA will do so badly that it may not remain the second large party I think the DA is being underestimated but I do think that we will see an improvement on the EFF,” he said.

According to Seepe, the MK party would likely take third place because of the amount of mobilization they have done on the ground.

The party has gained popularity without much marketing. They have also used the face of former president Jacob Zuma to capture the attention of South Africans.

“They have done better than other small parties,” he said.

Seepe said after the MK party he sees ActionSA battling for position four. This is the party’s maiden general election since launching in 2020.

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Despite assumptions that Rise Mzansi would get into the top five Seepe said he saw them as less of a threat.

He did not mention the IFP, who were the fourth biggest party in the 2019 national elections with more than half a million votes.