Smaller parties cut to nothing on the day
Only 11 of 29 parties on ballot make parliamentary threshold
SMALLER parties were the biggest losers in this election — after a campaign that left several saddled with massive debts.
And, 20 years after the dawn of democracy in South Africa, the PAC was the only liberation movement, other than the ANC, to muster the numbers to occupy a seat in parliament.
The threshold for a National Assembly seat is just under 40 000 votes. Liberation stalwarts such as the Azanian People’s Organisation fell well short of that.
Of the 29 parties that contested the poll, 15 failed to get the votes to enter parliament.
There was a significant push, including from Ronnie Kasrils’s Vukani campaign, for South Africans to vote strategically to challenge ANC dominance.
Parties at the Independent Electoral Commission’s results centre were at pains this week to highlight their contribution to holding the government accountable, including contesting the Protection of State Information Bill and exposing the arms deal.
Some former MPs are about to see their salaries and perks halted abruptly, and the misery of the smaller parties is further compounded by having to forfeit their deposit of R600 000 to the IEC.
The PAC, which has contested every election since the advent of democracy, decried voters’ fickle nature. “South Africans are not fair. They don’t look at policy and ideology and are taken by excitement,” said PAC president Alton Mphethi.
He also blamed former PAC leader Letlapa Mphahlele for “killing” the party.
Parliamentary stalwart and African People’s Convention president Themba Godi was left equally perplexed by the result.
“We have addressed people’s grievances as a fundamental duty, but this has not translated into votes,” he said.
As chairman of parliament’s standing committee on public accounts, Godi played a pivotal role in holding free-spending ministries to account, in the process building a reputation as a straight talker.
With 30 261 unaudited votes, Godi was still hoping the APC would retain its single seat.
Azapo said people had been conditioned to vote for the ANC and had done so mistakenly.
“People vote unintentionally because they are used to voting for the same party,” said party spokesman Billy Mogale.
He plans for Azapo to organise mock ballots to voters to train them to vote for his party. Azapo garnered 20 094 votes. Early election results left African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe gravely concerned.
“For the first time since we started, we had to go into debt. Three weeks ago, we did not have a single poster up and so we decided we had to take out a loan. Our lack of resources has cost us votes,” said Meshoe.
The ACDP is assured of at least two seats.
Some of the smaller parties will still be able to enter parliament, albeit through the back door. Once seats are allocated by virtue of votes, the remaining seats will be allocated to the first five also-rans that missed the 45 000 threshold.