The election is creeping closer, with little over three weeks left before Weskus residents have to choose their leaders, who they believe will enhance South Africa’s political landscape for the next five years.
There are over 60 political parties contesting for a seat in the national assembly – and this is excluding the individual candidates.
Many of these parties launched their 2024 party manifesto’s ahead of the elections which serves as a tool to gain more voters by highlighting, during extravagant campaigns throughout the country, what they are hoping to achieve for the next four years.
According to Prof Erwin Schwella, public affairs expert from, among other institutions, the Hugenote College in Wellington, reading political party manifestos is a way of deciding which party to vote for.
“It gives you an idea what the party stands for.”
“Ask yourself, what will the party do that is important to you?” Schwella said.
A manifesto can be either inclusive, or exclusive, Schwella argued. For example, the Economic Freedom Fighter’s manifesto is exclusive as it caters mainly to the poorer black community, while the Freedom Front Plus focus on certain groups within the white population, and the Patriotic Alliance on votes within the brown community, Schwella explained.
A party “between” these two spectrums is the Democratic Alliance (DA), as it relies on votes across the different demographics. The DA, in its policy, according to Schwella, comes across as inclusive, but the “political culture” within the party suggests otherwise.
According to him, the party’s black leadership seems to be waning although the party prides itself by being all inclusive.
“In principle, the party is non-racial, but not everybody [within the party] is convinced.”
Examples of politicians resigning or removed includes Mmusi Maimane, Patricia de Lille and Lindiwe Mazibuko back in 2011.
Schwella explained that reading party manifesto’s is an activity a small minority of the population bestows upon themselves.
“I will be surprised if four or five percent reads them, and if a further one percent bases their [voting] decision off it,” he said.
“Voters will vote for who they want, but they are not going to read a manifesto for it.”
According to him, they will vote for who they relate to most, and a manifesto will, in most cases, not alter that choice.
Special votes
If a potential voter did not get the chance to register to vote on 29 May or has to re-register, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) encourages South Africans to make use of the special vote option.
This is according to a press release by the IEC on 22 April.
Special votes will take place on 27 or 28 May between 09:00 and 17:00.
A voter can apply for special vote by 3 May when the process closes by:
- Registering online at www.elections.org.za;
- or by sending an SMS to 32249 with your identification number;
- by visiting your local IEC office during office hours;
- or have the completed application form delivered there.
The voter will receive an SMS informing them whether the special vote application has been approved or not.
