The integrity, credibility and general wholesomeness of a political party can perhaps be measured by its commitment and unwavering adherence to its professed and proposed values, principles, policies and practices. After all, it is those characteristics with which it invites and earns electoral support and financial donations.
Likewise, those individuals who hold senior positions within party structures or as public representatives, e.g. councillors, mayors, MECs etc can be expected to remain loyal and committed to the party itself and its support base.
The question of the morality and ethics of a party does then arise when it enters into a coalition with another party or parties that espouse contrary or materially different values, principles and policies. This is often referred to as an “unholy alliance”.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Unholy alliance’s problem: No core beliefs other than saving themselves through weakening Ramaphosa, ANC and South Africa
Again, and likewise, those individuals who abandon their party for reasons other than genuine fundamental new-found political differences and deep disapproval of current party policies and practices can rightfully be accused of a betrayal of trust and political duplicity.
Generally, these opportunistic party and individual altered political associations or positionings do not come about to achieve the greater good for a country’s or specific community’s social or economic well-being, but are typically motivated by party or individual political ambition for power — at whatever cost — individual political status or personal financial enhancement.
Crossing the floor
There are numerous current and past examples in the South African political environment of such political flip-flopping and chicanery.
From within the Democratic Alliance, one former leader and three past senior city mayors (one of whom is the leader of a party competing with the ANC yet happily serves as an ANC Cabinet minister!) have either founded or joined an alternative political establishment.
A former president of the ANC and, indeed, the country is now the vociferous leader of a vehemently anti-ANC political party.
The ANC, EFF, Patriotic Alliance and some smaller parties and their municipal and metro councillors conveniently switch allegiances or form self-serving coalitions among themselves, bargaining as they do so for positions rather than principles. This despite the fact that they verbally abuse, bad-mouth and vigorously criticise each other at times when their short-term political goals or financial itchy palms are not at play.
This unfortunate and dubious muddled and muddy political “revolving door” environment does nothing to instil confidence in the South African version and practice of democracy among the electorate and causes them to either be disinterested in the coming elections or to be confused and uncertain about which party merits their support.
Read more in Daily Maverick: 2024 elections hub
One can understand their dilemma. The ANC is itself in coalition with the SACP and Cosatu, both of which have conflicting ideological backgrounds and agendas vis-à-vis the ANC, which consequently does not seem to know whether to veer to its left or its right, rendering it unpredictable, indecisive and stagnant.
The EFF represents a potentially dangerous revolutionary loose cannon and the MK party, specifically its leader, seems hell-bent on revenge and retribution — even to the extent of criminally prosecuting the incumbent president of the country — and is showing a concerning leaning towards non-peaceful radicalisation.
The DA and Rise Mzansi are apparently offending each other about vote splitting and even from within the Multi-Party Charter (MPC) the electorate is getting mixed messages as to its current and future solidarity.
Also, for a rational voter, the prospect of spending one’s precious, rarely exercised vote on a party that is likely to achieve less than 1% — or only fractionally more — of the vote or insignificant representation in Parliament is not particularly appealing and the multiplicity of parties on the ballot paper simply adds to the general party option quandary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixRIaGGHhl0
Aiming for middle ground
Consequently, many traditional risk-averse middle-ground voters will prefer to again hedge their bets with centrist parties such as the DA, IFP, ACDP, FF+ and those disgruntled, long-suffering and disappointed traditional ANC or first-time voters may well be tempted to support the centre space now occupied as well by the likes of ActionSA, BPSA, Rise Mzansi etc, etc.
To misquote the composer Gerry Rafferty of the song often wrongly attributed to Bob Dylan, they may decide that politically with “clowns to the left, jokers to the right, it’s better to be stuck in the middle”.
However, many will ask just how solid, unified and cohesive is that middle ground and if it is without potential political cracks and crevices; and if the parties are generally of like-minded values, principle and policies, why are the dozen or more parties that seem to share that space all competing electorally with one another?
In essence and having regard to the fact that not one of them can achieve an independent electoral majority on their own, but could possibly have done so or at least have gained the most votes as a single political unit, why have they gone into this election selfishly and perhaps recklessly splitting votes between themselves into separate and — relative to the total electoral votes cast — minority fractions?
This will inevitably allow the ANC to emerge from this election as the party with the most votes, thus enabling it to be the dominant player within the next government.
Should this be the case, all those leaders and senior party decision-makers who have demanded electoral independence from other centrists, like-minded parties, even from those within the MPC, may well have sacrificed the future peace, progress and prosperity of the South African nation on the altar of their ill-judged political separatism. They will have possibly subjected us to another five frustrating and wasted years under continued ANC-dominated governance of our broken and beleaguered nation.
Some of those responsible for electoral separatism may conclude that merging middle-ground parties into one focused, dynamic electoral political magnet would have been premature — “marry in haste, repent in leisure”.
But I would suggest that had they held the interests of the nation above their own selfish party and individual ambitions and exhibited the crucial leadership characteristics of vision, a sense of reality, integrity, courage and a necessary recognition of the need for urgency, the South African electorate may well have had the opportunity to vote for a credible, viable, wholesome political establishment. An establishment that presented itself as a much-needed “government-in-waiting”, and the only real potentially positive political game-changer option on the May 2024 ballot paper. DM