Opposition can celebrate ANC’s dashed hopes, but voters are fed-up

Even if the ANC is not to contest certain areas of the upcoming local government election, it’s not going to be plain sailing for the opposition parties, an expert has said.

In the light of last week’s Constitutional Court ruling against the postponement of the October local government elections, political analyst Sanusha Naidu gave the opposition parties little hope of appealing to the electorate.

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Naidu highlighted the recent Afrobarometer survey that indicated that the trust element for opposition parties had never been higher than 40%.

The opposition were meanwhile celebrating the ANC’s electoral predicament after it was unable to register its candidates in some municipalities with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

The governing party would therefore be unable to contest the election in a large number of municipalities.

The ANC’s hopes were dashed when the IEC refused its request to reopen the process.

At its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, the ANC was exploring possible loopholes in the ConCourt judgement to enable it to resubmit its lists.

READ MORE: NDZ officially gazettes elections for 27 October

Quoting her own article she had penned for Democracy Development Programme, Naidu said there were perceptions that the overall trust deficit in the political architecture and actors had deepened in the past decade.

“The most common response is: What will my vote change?” she said.

According to her, the prevailing view was that those in power were more concerned about their own livelihoods and power, and that they had little regard for those who have voted them into office.

“In fact, it is the lack of accountability and arrogance [in governance] that underpins [public] perceptions. It is not enough to assume that the public is only pushing back against the ruling party.”

Opposition parties should realise the public was becoming increasingly tired of being losers in this democracy, Naidu said.

She said the public was seriously considering a delegative democracy, where a strong state can deliver access to services and entrenched stability.