With just 18 months to go until South Africans head to the polls to vote in provincial and national elections, political parties will have to take voter measure and assess where they are falling short and how they can run an effective election campaign.
Gareth van Onselen has written a detailed analysis of where the big three parties – the ANC, DA and EFF – are at and what sort of percentage of voters they might attract. Van Onselen relies on information collected from a survey conducted by Victory Research, which he heads as chief executive.
This week he looks at the state of the DA and concludes that the party has stabilised its support base after losing some of its voting blocs during the 2019 elections. Van Onselen writes that the party will be most worried about Gauteng where it has hit some stagnation due to the emergence of ActionSA and all this at a time when the ANC has dropped heavily in support in the province.
Next week Van Onselen will look at the state of the EFF while last week he began his three-part essay series with the ANC.
Meanwhile, Justice Malala writes that it is interesting to note that nothing of huge importance happened at the ANC’s policy conference held a while back with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s allies easily winning most of the debates.
But Malala writes that the radical economic transformation faction knows that none of the decisions made at the policy conference is binding and that the real battle will begin at the elective conference in December.
Whoever wins the leadership positions of the ANC’s top six will be able to affect change in the party and enforce the policies of their specific factions on the party.
Here’s what else we’re reading today:
Sipho Masondo | Maybe it is time political parties start signing performance agreements – News24 (for subscribers)
Smoke-filled rooms and ANC deputy presidential candidates galore — let the dealmaking begin – Daily Maverick
EDITORIAL: Political turbulence lurks in the grants space – Business Day (for subscribers)
Expropriation Bill has the potential to fatally wound our economy – The Citizen (for subscribers)
Expropriation Bill: A major banking crisis is likely to ensue – The Citizen (for subscribers)
South Africa’s social fabric is at breaking point – Mail & Guardian
