Posters show South Africa is desperate for change
FIX, rescue, renew and save. These are the common themes of political posters in South Africa as electioneering moves into overdrive ahead of the May 29 poll.
Late Minority Front leader Amichand Rajbansi used to boast that it was unnecessary for him to campaign for elections because he did it throughout the year when he met with people for “baptisms, births and biryani”. However, for all other parties, posters and podiums are how they are trying to sway voters.
ethekwini Municipality’s Development Planning Environment and Management Unit is responsible for the regulation of outdoor advertising in the municipality. According to a council resolution, “For every election period, consideration is given to relaxing some of the requirements in the spirit of promoting democracy.”
The municipality said parties and candidates who wanted to display their advertising had to pay a deposit which would be held in trust for three months after election day. These funds would be used “to cover any costs incurred by the General Advertising Branch/department should a party fail to remove its election posters within a required period”.
The municipality said some routes or areas classified as “maximum control” would only be opened for the elections-related advertising “on the premise that messaging will be constant and not likely to contribute in causing accidents”.
Other conditions included that there should not be more than two posters per pole of the same party or candidate; no posters are allowed on traffic signs including robots, directional signs and warning signs and posters are not allowed to be displayed or pasted on bridges, walls and trees.
University of Kwazulu-natal political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu has been monitoring the posters and messages closely.
“The DA talks about rescuing South Africa, basically saying that we are in trouble and we need to be rescued and the DA is the only party that can help South Africa come out of the mess that it is in.
“Then you have the ANC, which basically keeps on saying pretty much the same thing; that’s working together to build a better South Africa. But there’s not much the ANC can say now because it has messed up so badly that it has really run out of things to say. And I mean, I did attend its manifesto launch and the manifesto is pretty much the same as the one that it unveiled in 2019, if I’m not mistaken,” said Ndlovu.
There are several familiar faces on the posters – the late IFP President Mangosuthu Buthelezi is the face of that party’s election campaign in which voters are urged to “do it for Shenge” which is Buthelezi’s clan name.
Jacob Zuma’s face, now on an umkhonto wesizwe Party (MKP) poster, seems to be the same one previously used by the ANC in its election campaigns. And the EFF uses the face of its leader, Julius Malema, on its posters.
Ndlovu said the Zuma picture was familiar.
“Yeah, it’s the exact same picture. And again what has happened with the formation of MK is that they’ve given people this false hope that there’s an alternative, that there’s an option. Whereas in reality, you know, the ANC and MK, as far as I’m concerned, they are coming from the same blood, it’s the same party. The MK is trying to come across as radical, and they’re saying some ridiculous things like they want to put traditional leaders in charge. They’re very populist, because Zuma knows that when he says things like that he’s going to appeal to a lot of Zuma traditionalists.”
Ndlovu said that while many thought the MKP was an alternative to the ANC, it definitely wasn’t.
“What’s going to happen after the election is that the MK Party is going to rescue the ANC. So it’s going to keep the ANC in power because, look, we’re talking about parties that are cut from the same cloth. So I suspect that the ANC support is going to go well below 50% in KZN, and MK will come to the rescue. I think for Zuma, he started MK because he wants to send a message to Ramaphosa, who he dislikes, that he still has a lot of influence. But after the election, I suspect that they will come
together and form a coalition.”
Regarding the poster regulations, ethekweni Municipality said parties were charged for putting up posters and they had a limited time in which to take them down or else face the risk of being fined.
ethekwini Municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said a council resolution determined how election and voter registration posters should be displayed.
“All parties must remove all posters and/or flying banners within 30 days after the upcoming 2024 general elections.
“The political parties pay R200 per ward and the number of posters is restricted to 800 posters per ward. In the event of any breach by a party, the Municipality (via the Development Planning Unit) would contact the party concerned and the removal of posters will be carried out within two days after the party concerned has been contacted,” Sisilana said.