A Successful Year for Political Underdogs At Local Government Elections, ActionSA, Patriotic Alliance, IFP
- Smaller political organisations were able to gain a lot of support, knocking down support for the African National Congress
- Three parties that made a mark include Action SA, Inkatha Freedom Party and Patriotic Alliance
- Briefly News put together a round-up of what made these three political organisations stand out at the elections
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JOHANNESBURG - The local government elections had surprising results with the African National Congress's support dwindling to an all-time low. However, for many smaller political parties support increased quite drastically.
Three political parties stood out namely Action SA founded by Herman Mashaba, Inkatha Freedom Party led by Velenkosi Hlabisa and Patriotic Alliance founded and led by Gayton McKenzie. These parties managed to convince South African voters and earned seats in many municipalities.
Source: Getty Images
Action SA does well in Gauteng metros
Action SA performed exceptionally well at the polls for a political organisation that was formed a year before local government elections and during the pandemic. The party was able to win 16.05% of the votes in Johannesburg, according to News24.
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Mashaba played an instrumental role in how the Gauteng metropolitan metros are currently being governed. The Action SA leader along with Julius Malema, the Economic Freedom Fighters leader made the decision to vote for the Democratic Alliance to make sure that ANC would no longer govern in Gauteng.
This move helped Action SA place members of its party in Mayoral Committee(MMC) positions in the Gauteng province, despite not having enough votes to lead coalitions talks.
IFP scopes up KwaZulu-Natal municipalities
The IFP had a winning strategy to get voters in KwaZulu-Natal by using the face of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi instead of the face of the current leader, Hlabisa. The party apologised for making those posters that were seemingly unsanctioned, however, the false advertising paid off, according to The Witness.
The IFP was able to win the Nklandla municipality, which is the hometown of former President Jacob Zuma. The IFP was also able to retain the MMC for housing in Gauteng.
Like many political parties this year, the IFP stated that it was not willing to work with the ANC. The party almost went back its word but kept true that that promise by backtracking on a coalition agreement.
Patriotic Alliance gains support nationally
Patriotic Alliance which is considered a smaller party was able to pick up momentum at the local government elections nationwide.
According to IOL, the PA scooped 75 council seats nationally and managed to get 225 661 votes, which makes the party eligible to enter into coalition talks. In the Western Cape alone, the PA won 28 council seats and 69 319 votes.
Unlike most political organisations, McKenzie stated that the PA was willing to enter into a coalition with any party including the ANC.
ANC Goes broke, staff unpaid for months on end and no Christmas bonus in sight
Briefly News previously reported that in 2021, there were many news articles about instances where the ANC could not afford certain things.
From workers' salaries to election poster drama, Briefly News rounds up the year the ANC went broke. ANC employees were told in September that they would not receive a salary.
The ruling party issued a letter to their workers in which they highlighted that the financial problems have not gotten any better and will also have to rely on fundraising and donations to fund their election campaign.
Source: Briefly News
