Programme manager at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, Bonolo Makgale, has attributed the poor performance of the African National Congress (ANC) in the 2024 elections to failed promises.
The democracy practitioner asserted that South Africans have over the years not benefited from the numerous promises by the ANC; hence, they used the elections as an opportunity to vote for other political parties.
The outcome of the elections that saw the ANC lose majority seats in parliament, she said, was one that the voters used to explore other viable alternatives.
After the declaration of the election results, in South Africa, the ruling African National Congress garnered only 40.18 percent of the votes.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition party, polled the second-highest number of votes (21.81 percent), followed by the MK party (14.58 percent) and the EFF (9.52 percent).
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the decision by the ANC to invite other political parties to form a government of national unity.
This is a result of the ANC’s failure to secure the majority seats in parliament for the first time since the end of the racist system of apartheid 30 years ago.
He called for national dialogue to help rebuild social cohesion after a “toxic and divisive” election campaign.
Reacting to this, Bonolo Makgale said in an exclusive interview with Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM that the dwindling election performance of the ANC started in 2009.
This she attributed to the political party’s failure to keep pledges, as well as citizens’ inability to reap the benefits of democracy and the promises given to them by the ANC.
She further indicated that they have been observing this incremental decline of supporters of the ANC since the 2009 elections.
“So the decline has been happening, but this time around, it really took the ANC a hard knock.
“One could argue that South Africans are tired of the ANC because the ANC has not been able to fulfil some of their promises that they made to South African citizens. South Africa’s have not been able to enjoy the dividend of democracy and promises that were made, and the fact that now, South Africans have decided to explore other viable alternatives—that’s one, but also, if you look at our voter turnout, most South Africans have decided not to vote,” she told host Kwabena Agyapong.
She added that South Africa’s 2024 general elections recorded an extremely low voter turnout.
A total of 27.7 million South Africans registered to vote.
However, only 16.2 million ballots were cast on Election Day.
The statistic reflects a voter turnout of 58.64 percent, the lowest in South Africa’s 30-year democratic history.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
