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POLITICS
The country’s three main parties had to come up with ingenious ways to stay relevant and in the public eye without being able to hold public conferences and rallies.
How to perform their political functions and duties without putting themselves and their constituents at risk of contracting Covid-19 was a major problem faced by South African politicians and political parties this year.
Without a doubt, the virus has caused great disruption and forced changes in the way we all experience everyday events, including political entities that previously thrived on large meetings and interactions.
City Press looks at how the three main political parties in South Africa have been affected, which of them adjusted the fastest to the “new normal” and how they could continue to function in the future.
THE ANC
The ruling party was fortunate enough to hold its annual agenda-setting celebrations on January 8 before Covid-19 hit our shores and the country was essentially shut down in March.
However, this was not the case for some of the other high-profile elective and strategic planning engagements scheduled by the ANC.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC Youth League was dissolved in July last year, and a task force was appointed to oversee the operation of the organization and to convene an elective congress on an urgent basis.
READ: ANC travels the virtual route for its January 8 celebrations
To this end, the work team had to complete the verification of the branch’s structure around July or August, so that the congress could be held towards the end of this year, but this did not materialize due to the Covid-19 restrictions. .
As a result, the task force announced in October that the elective congress will be held before the end of January.
The ANC now seems to have no choice but to race against time to elect a youth league before next year’s local government elections. Although it won last year’s national elections, analysts concluded that if the party had had a strong and effective youth league in its ranks, its margin of victory would have been much higher.
Another major disruption caused the long-awaited ANC national general council to crash this year as well.
Initially, it was scheduled to run from June 26-30. It was then rescheduled to take place between July 30 and August 3 and then postponed to early next year.
The council, which takes place midway between party conferences, is convened to discuss strategic political and organizational issues facing the movement.
However, much more was expected for this year’s council, which was expected to be a battleground for factions at war with the group.
There has been growing discontent within the ANC under President Cyril Ramaphosa, mainly due to its inability and / or reluctance to implement several of the resolutions made at its 54th national conference in December 2017 in Nasrec.
As a result, the radical economic transformation roster, comprising a group believed to be led by ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule, was expected to oppose Ramaphosa and call for an early election to overthrow him.
Beyond its disrupted party programs, the ANC remains relevant, given that most of its ministers were at the forefront of planning and implementing actions to combat Covid-19.
As minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma had wide powers during the state of disaster that Ramaphosa announced in March by Ramaphosa. It was enlarged several times and remains in place.
It was empowered to implement regulations that were not subject to parliamentary scrutiny and have since been declared unconstitutional, such as the prolonged ban on the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize and Police Minister Bheki Cele were also in the center of things, coordinating health strategies and ensuring regulatory compliance, respectively, during the shutdown.
According to numerous polls conducted this year, both ministers received high approval ratings at the start of the pandemic.
However, as rot within the ruling party became increasingly visible during the shutdown, particularly in fraud involving personal protective equipment and food packages, public support turned to widespread shame and anger.
THE DAY
Unlike other parties, which repeatedly postponed many of their most important and delayed engagements during the shutdown, the district attorney adapted more quickly to the situation and virtually held his political conference and elective congress.
While the party’s political resolutions and the elective conference were mired in controversy, the holding of the events practically set a precedent for how political party events can be staged in the future, at least until the Covid virus. -19 is under safe control.
READ: John Steenhuisen elected as new DA leader: ‘Never in my wildest imagination did I think I would be the leader of this great party’
Aside from some complaints that led to the two events, the district attorney managed to carry them out without a hitch.
As an official opposition, the party also found new ways to hold the government to account.
Then DA interim leader John Steenhuisen quickly put together the party’s twice-weekly broadcast called Coronacast, which was broadcast on the party’s Facebook page. Other DA members also created podcasts to keep members informed of Covid-19 developments and create platforms to express their dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of the pandemic.
THE EFF
Although still considered a wild card by many on the political spectrum, relying on just four or five points of contention with the ANC to arouse outrage among its supporters, rather than presenting a comprehensive and sustainable strategy that includes areas such as international relations and the attraction of foreigners. investment, the Red Berets have certainly been resourceful in repositioning themselves to take full advantage of digital technology during the lockdown.
The party’s main means of communication has been social media, particularly Twitter, which it has used to unleash a regular stream of invective against the ANC, the DA, and the often ill-defined entities that it perceives as white colonial vanguards participating in acts. of exploitation and racism.
In doing so, the EFF has taken full advantage of global movements like #BlackLivesMatter to inflame its supporters, augmenting this with physical demonstrations organized in places like Senekal, outside Brackenfell High School in Cape Town, and outside Clicks retail branches in various parts of the country.
The effect has been fickle, disruptive, and volatile, but rarely productive in furthering party goals or appealing to the logic, rather than the latent anger and frustrations, of young voters.
The party has been able to continue broadcasting virtually most of leader Julius Malema’s press reports.
The EFF has also adopted an intermediary role to report on racially motivated labor disputes and abuses of women and children, particularly where existing legal avenues do not respond adequately.
However, it remains to be seen whether the party’s propensity for invective, street violence and slogans will translate into solid electoral support.
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