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Electoral Politics in South Africa This page intentionally left blank Electoral Politics in South Africa Assessing the First Democratic Decade Edited by Jessica Piombo and Lia Nijzink ELECTORAL POLITICS IN SOUTH AFRICA © Jessica Piombo and Lia Nijzink, 2005. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2005 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 1–4039–7123–4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: December 2005 10987654321 Printed in the United States of America. CONTENTS Preface vii Acknowledgments x Part 1 A Decade of Democracy One A Voice for Some: South Africa’s Ten Years of Democracy 3 Steven Friedman Two The Electoral Implications of Social and Economic Change since 1994 23 Jeremy Seekings Three Voter Information, Government Evaluations, and Party Images in the First Democratic Decade 40 Robert Mattes Four Parliament and the Electoral System: How Are South Africans Being Represented? 64 Lia Nijzink and Jessica Piombo Five Electoral Administration: Achievements and Continuing Challenges 87 Claude Kabemba Part 2 The Party Campaigns Six The African National Congress: There Is No Party Like It; Ayikho Efana Nayo 109 Tom Lodge vi Contents Seven The Democratic Alliance: Progress and Pitfalls 129 Susan Booysen Eight The Inkatha Freedom Party: Between the Impossible and the Ineffective 148 Laurence Piper Nine The New National Party: The End of the Road 166 Collette Schulz-Herzenberg Ten Struggling to Represent the Left: The Pan Africanist Congress, the Azanian People’s Organization, and the Independent Democrats 187 Thabisi Hoeane Eleven The Smallest Parties: The ACDP,UCDP,FFϩ,MF, and UDM 207 Sanusha Naidu and Mbogeni Manqele Part 3 Results and Assessment Twelve Media Coverage in Election 2004: Were Some Parties More Equal Than Others? 231 Gavin Davis Thirteen The Results of Election 2004: Looking Back, Stepping Forward 250 Jessica Piombo List of Contributors 291 Index 294 PREFACE April 1994 was a time of liberation and hope in South Africa. Millions of South Africans celebrated freedom as they elected a democratic govern- ment to end apartheid. Ten years later, South Africa commemorated a decade of democracy. The highlight of the month-long celebrations was the country’s third democratic national election on April 14, followed by the inauguration of President Mbeki in a ninety-million Rand fete at the Union buildings in Pretoria. But was there reason to celebrate? Many achievements have been made over the past ten years. Social services have been extended to the majority. Progress in the provision of houses, water, sanitation, and electricity has been slow, but steady. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), although not a per- fect exercise, helped the country to heal deep wounds and avoid mass retaliation. The electoral process has become overwhelmingly peaceful, well managed, and increasingly routine. Political intimidation has decreased considerably, and parties can now campaign in areas where they once feared to tread. Many who lived through the apartheid years marvel at the fact that we can now discuss South African politics in terms of non- violent political competition, rather than by counting politically moti- vated incidents of intimidation, violence, and intolerance. But the balance sheet of South Africa’s first decade of democracy also shows negatives. The country is still sharply divided between the haves and the have-nots, and inequality is increasing. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is raging in all sectors of society, the full impact of which has yet to be felt. The economy is growing, but at a pace not nearly fast enough to provide sufficient employment. Unemployment and crime continue to be pressing problems. On the political terrain, competition is increasingly taking place solely among opposition parties, while the ruling party’s electoral dominance viii Preface continues to grow. And, although there were more registered voters in 2004 than in previous elections, fewer people turned out to vote. This volume brings together contributions from leading and emerging South African and international scholars to assess the quality of democ- racy and the electoral process in South Africa over the past ten years, with special emphasis on the 2004 elections. It represents the third in a loose series of analyses about democratic elections in South Africa. In contrast to the previous two volumes, we have broadened the perspec- tive to include a retrospective on the past ten years of democracy, ori- ented toward how changes have affected the context in which elections take place. Political, economic, and social changes over the past decade have altered the landscape of South African electoral politics. In the opening chapter of this volume, Friedman analyzes the state of South African democracy, its strengths and weaknesses, articulating an argument about the role of identity politics in the process of democratic consolidation. Seekings subsequently looks at social and economic changes that have occurred since 1994 and their electoral implications, while Mattes reviews how changes in public opinion have impacted on people’s political preferences and voting decisions between 1994 and 2004. In a chapter on the institutions of representative democracy, Nijzink and Piombo describe how Parliament, which initially spent much of its time on law- making, has become more reactive after 1999. The chapter also discusses how the evolution of the electoral system has worked to cement an alignment of opposition politics that fails to incorporate the majority of South African voters, while enabling the ruling party to absorb some of its longstanding rivals. Kabemba subsequently investigates the organization responsible for administering elections, tracing how electoral administra- tion has evolved since 1994 and highlighting the achievements of the Independent Electoral Commission during its ten-year existence. Turning to the chapters on political parties, we asked our authors to focus on party tactics and campaign strategies, and to cast an eye toward the development of the parties’ fortunes over the past ten years. What were the main issues on which the parties campaigned in the 2004 election and what groups did they target? How did the 2004 election campaign compare with the campaigns of 1994 and 1999? In his chapter on the African National Congress, Lodge describes the ruling party’s careful and successful efforts in the 2004 campaign. Booysen, looking at the Democratic Alliance, highlights the problems, pitfalls, and progress in the campaign strategy of the largest opposition party. Schulz-Herzenberg analyzes the demise of the New National Party, while Piper focuses on Preface ix politics in KwaZulu-Natal and the fortunes of the Inkatha Freedom Party. Hoeane reviews how the Pan Africanist Congress, the Azanian People’s Organisation, and the new Independent Democrats fared in the 2004 election. Finally, Naidu and Manqele look at the smallest parties and their role in electoral politics. In the last two chapters, the volume turns to an assessment of the elec- toral process. Davis analyzes the role of the media in the 2004 election by investigating the question of bias. He presents evidence suggesting that, despite perceptions of bias, the media were in fact fair in their portrayal of the various parties. In the final chapter of this volume, Piombo dis- cusses the outcome of the 2004 election at the national and provincial levels, emphasizing the “normalization” of politics and the contours of voting trends since 1994. She concludes the volume by looking at what these trends mean for the future of democratic politics in South Africa. Overall, this book remains cautiously optimistic about the future prospects for democracy in South Africa. Some chapters question the effectiveness of political parties, suggesting a disconnection between voters and the parties that represent them. Over time, this disconnect could lead to alienation and voter apathy, but, as most authors argue, the situation is not yet critical. In these pages, we have attempted to bring together diverse opinions on the prospects for democracy in South Africa. We have not tried to force agreement between the various outlooks of our contributors. If the result is that the individual chapters contradict each other at certain points, then this reflects a healthy diversity of opinions on the nature and quality of South Africa’s democracy. We hope that this volume serves both as a sourcebook for information on the elections, the parties, and their campaigns and as a contribution to careful analysis and debate on the electoral process. Jessica Piombo and Lia Nijzink August 2005 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people have contributed time, effort, and support to this project. First of all, we would like to thank the authors. They adhered to a tight production schedule and accommodated our numerous suggestions. They also presented drafts of their chapters at a series of workshops held at the University of Cape Town in April, May, and June 2004, support for which was provided by the Centre for Social Science Research (CSSR). Without these workshops, we would not have had the oppor- tunity to discuss our contributions with each other and the academic community.We would like to extend our gratitude to all the individuals who agreed to serve as discussants, often on short notice and having received the chapters just days in advance.

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