Take a bow, SA: Peaceful elections boost country’s global image

The non-violent national elections have sent a good message to the international community, experts say.

Speaking to The Citizen yesterday, several political analysts and an internationally renowned reputation expert commended the voters’ and political parties’ behaviour.

“While there are pockets of administrative hurdles, the 2024 elections seem to be running smoothly, without any significant disturbances,” said a local reputation management expert, Tshepo Matseba.

“This reflects political maturity and stability in a historic election in the context of a plethora of new political parties.

“The [Electoral Commission of South Africa, IEC] is once more demonstrating its independence as an electoral body.

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“Political leaders are already indicating they will accept the election outcome, irrespective of whether the results are in their favour or not.

SA being positioned positively internationally

“In this spirit, South Africa is being positioned positively internationally,” he said.

Matseba added law enforcement agencies could take credit for ensuring the elections were not interrupted.

He said many international media houses had covered the elections in a positive light, giving the country leverage amongst global citizens and key stakeholders, such as investors.

“This positive sentiment is likely to drive an upward shift in foreign direct investment.”

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On Monday, Tuesday and yesterday, millions of South Africans converged on voting stations to cast their votes for the political parties of their choice.

Minor incidents

According to authorities, a few minor incidents were reported in different provinces:

• In Mpumalanga, IEC employees opened a case of intimidation.
• In Limpopo, three men attacked a woman for refusing to divulge which party she was going to vote for.
• In the Eastern Cape and North West, residents protested but the situation was quelled by law enforcement agencies, while other provinces had minor incidents.

Political analyst Thabang Mostswaledi said: “Since the elections started, we have only seen a few incidents, which were about the people picketing about lack of service delivery and other incidents which [are not serious enough to dent] the international image of the country.

“Much as we are celebrating the non-violence elections, we are not condoning the minor incidents that happened. Mostswaledi, who is a senior lecturer at the department of political studies and international relations at North-West University, said the true test was still ahead – after the announcement of the results.

He said the party which won would be expected to continue with a good reputation shown by the political parties and voters.

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“The new government needs to have good fiscal policies that will make the investors feel safe when investing in the country,” he said.

‘General maturity by political parties’

Another analyst, Prof Sipho Seepe, echoed similar sentiments.

“There is a general maturity by political parties when it comes to the significance of elections in the lives of South Africans,” he said.

The results of the elections and, perhaps, a new president of the country, are expected to be announced by Sunday.