Are minority parties relevant in SA poll?

IN THE next few days South Africans will be making their way to the polling stations.

The three main political parties (the ANC, the DA and the EFF) face a continuing challenge from the smaller political parties and independent candidates.

Small political parties serve to fill a gap in political representation – a gap that occurs because the mainstream, major national parties increasingly appear to fail to aggregate and represent adequately the diverse range of views and interests that make up the political dynamic at national, regional and local levels.

For instance, in some cases small parties represent an opening up of new political space or a new political agenda. Alternatively, smaller parties may thrive on the popular appeal of a charismatic leadership and on its ability to develop policy platforms that reflect popular or populist concerns.

Yet, little is known of the way in which smaller parties and independent politicians contribute to politics and the government, and the impact they have on the functioning of democracy and other institutions of governance.

Most minor parties have well thought out positions and tightly worded platforms.

There is not a lot of diversity of opinion in most of these parties, but you know where they stand, which is not always the case with the major parties.

The competitors to the main three parties seek not only to provide the voter with alternatives at election time, but to influence the behaviour of the established parties; to force a re-evaluation of the social and normative boundaries in a political system; to expand the ideological boundaries of a political culture and to redefine the left-right spectrum, providing for a new form of political behaviour.

Small parties add a richness and depth to politics that has an impact on democracy and representation beyond the limited success they achieve at the ballot box, locally and nationally. The electoral impact of small parties, at least in terms of the crude measurement of seats won, is indeed limited at the national level.

Despite the lack of Parliamentary success, the existence and activities of small parties offers alternative opportunities for citizen engagement and participation.

Smaller parties can act to galvanise political opinion and activity that may be focused on a more precise set of political objectives than those of the big three; at the same time, smaller parties also construct a broad political platform across a range of issues which, however, often reflect their basic concerns.

Voters may support such parties because they consider the core issue of that party of vital importance and are less concerned that other policy aspects are not fully developed.

Smaller parties produce new avenues for political accountability as they are able to focus on issues either ignored or subsumed by the main parties.

Smaller parties seek not only to provide the voter with alternatives at election time, but to influence the behaviour of the established parties.

Vote wisely. We owe it to the future of South Africa.