By Zukile Majova
Political Editor
No one wants to bet on a losing horse. Political parties know this only too well.
And now with the voter’s roll closed ahead of the 29 May elections, they are turning their attention to millions of undecided voters.
Over nine million people on the voter’s roll did not vote in the 2019 general elections, pointing to growing voter apathy in the country.
This time around the voter’s roll has swelled to more than 27-million people, but an estimated 35% of these potential voters are unlikely to vote.
After almost a decade of state capture and the looting of state resources during the so-called wasted years of the Jacob Zuma administration, just 66% of registered South Africans voted in the last elections.
This year, political parties have been challenging each other to fill up some of the big 2010 World Cup stadiums including Moses Mabhida in Durban, Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit and the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.
The EFF and the ANC have already accomplished, to varying degrees, the so-called Gcwalisa iMabhida (Fill up Mabhida) challenge, albeit with the help of crowd-pulling maskandi musicians.
The newly formed uMkhonto Wesizwe, which confessed it could not afford to book a stadium at over R1-million, has been packing in thousands to its rallies in township and regional sporting grounds.
Organising a major rally includes the cost of buying more than 50,000 T-shirts and other party regalia like flags and banners.
The party has to also marshall millions of rands to provide meals and refreshments and to hire buses to transport members to and from the event.
The Gcwalisa challenges are a public spectacle for undecided voters who could still be won over by the sight of large crowds.
A political party that battles to draw crowds in various regions is seen as likely to perform badly in the coming elections.
Early predictions about voter turnout suggest that an estimated 10 million people might not make it to the polls.
On Sunday, the spotlight will be on the resurgent IFP, which will be taking on the Gcwalisa iMabhida challenge.
The once Zulu-traditionalists’ party with its stronghold across the uThukela River in Ulundi and Nongoma will be venturing to Durban for its manifesto launch for the first time.
The party wants to present itself as having won the support of the urban black middle class and the youth who are facing unemployment and an uncertain future.
IFP president Velenkosi Hlabisa wants to achieve this despite the death last year of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the founder and leading light of the party.
Buthelezi’s face and name will be on IFP election regalia as the party hopes to use his historical popularity with the Zulu nation to take over the governance of KZN once again.
Pictured above: To celebrate the memory of its founder, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the IFP is campaigning to unseat the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal
Source: X
