LUKANYO MNYANDA: Will parties draw the correct lessons from the election?

So in the end, the centre held. For a young democracy in such an unequal society, SA voters showed themselves to be mature.

They didn’t fall for the wild and uncosted promises of the hard left. That was one of the most noticeable features of this election — that political parties could run on a campaign of promising freebies on everything, without explaining how they would fund it all.

Perhaps that should be the next step in the evolution of our democracy. Voters should be told in advance how much every promise will cost and where the money will come, even if the promise comes from a party that has no chance of being in government.

Just as an example, the EFF should explain the fiscal consequences of its policy of nationalising all the land in the country. What would that do to the value of property? And what about mortgaged property? Would the government then compensate the banking sector, or just let it collapse? To what end?

The party fared much worse than expected though it did increase its share of the vote, unlike the DA. But it remains to be seen whether it will draw the right lessons from its performance. Hurling insults at opponents and making promises that can’t be met can only get one so far.

As for the DA, it’s hard to think of the election outcome as nothing but catastrophic. It shouldn’t have really come as a surprise. I don’t spend much time on social media but I did check on what was being said about polls. One of the more succinct commentaries about the DA was that as a party, it was unclear what it stood for and who was in charge.

Considering that the lead-up to these elections was dominated by revelations of massive corruption within the ANC ranks, the main opposition losing votes was a shocker and must bring into question its leadership.

Considering that the lead-up to these elections was dominated by revelations of massive corruption within the ANC ranks, the main opposition losing votes was a shocker.

Looking at that, it was as if I was back in the UK where the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn managed to lose an election against a Tory party led by Theresa May, possibly the worst ever British prime minister. He got away with spinning his loss as a win, purely on grounds that they’d managed to prevent the Conservatives from winning an outright majority. 

Watching the DA under Mmusi Maimane reminded me of a time when I was following SA politics from afar. It was a depressing period as the corruption that infected the country during Jacob Zuma’s reign became more obvious.

While commentators seemed to be impressed by Maimane’s “broken man” speech, in reference to Zuma, all I could take away from it was that the DA leader had spent a lot of time watching videos of former US president Barack Obama.

He sounded eloquent enough, but there never seemed to be much substance. Unfortunately, there’s been no improvement. Trying to take ownership of Nelson Mandela and walking around in T-shirts emblazoned with Madiba’s face just added to the party’s lack of identity.

It’s not clear either if they will draw the correct lessons from the election. Whatever way they try to spin it, the performance can’t be regarded as anything other than a disaster.

And then there is the ANC. However much Ace Magashule might want to deny it, the Ramaphosa factor seemed to have pushed them through. While the ANC’s share of the vote was about five percentage points lower than in 2014, it at least improved on its performance in the 2016 local elections. Which is something that can’t be said of the DA and Maimane.

The outcome was pretty much in line with what the markets were hoping for, and that was reflected in the rand strengthening last week. It seems as though both currency traders and voters backed the notion that a significant majority for the ANC would strengthen the president and sideline the Magashule factions.

From the size of the cabinet to the break-up of Eskom, Ramaphosa will need to take some decisive action early. He could start by telling the country that since the ANC didn’t win a two-thirds majority, there is no mandate to change the constitution to allow expropriation of land without compensation.

While the EFF has the votes to get it there, the demands are likely to be unreasonable for any responsible government to contemplate.

Perhaps the most important thing for Ramaphosa to realise is that he has already peaked and it’s downhill from here. So get on with your agenda while you’re at the height of your powers. Making enemies now won’t break his presidency. But waiting will do.