Party Political Manifestos: Meaningful or Meaningless? An Eight Manifesto review

 

February Newsletter RISE MZANSI DA EFF CHANGE STARTS NOW

 

March Newsletter ANC ACTION SA IFP FF+

By Steuart Pennington

The IEC tells us that 369 parties are lining up to contest the National Election and 1396 the Provincial Elections. YIKES, does that mean 369 manifestoes will be put out there to enable us curious voters to make a decision before May 29? Maybe a few Vulcans will read one or two (https://www.sagoodnews.co.za/?s=Hobbits) but I suspect not!

A couple of questions:

  • How many of the 369 Party Leaders will anyone listen to?
  • How many voters will read a single 30 – 50 page manifesto from start to finish? I’d guess 1%, if that.
  • How much difference is there between the various manifestoes in terms of wish lists, or are most of them letters to Father Christmas?  As my summary below indicates.
  • Do manifestoes make a clear distinction between what they gonna do and how they gonna do it??

I spent considerable time wading through four manifestos.

I was particularly interested to try and understand the CLARION CRY of each party – what they intend to shout from the hill-tops.

Then I wanted to understand their VISION of what each Party intends to deliver to WIN the hearts and minds of the voters

And then, what are their top 7 to 8 critical deliverables?

See below, it was a slog, but I hope it will give you the opportunity to briefly understand what these 4 party’s election campaigns are all about, and in particular to save you the graft of reading through 4 x 30 – 50 page Manifestos

A couple of things are obvious:

The promises raised by these 4 Party’s are very similar (the what) but the manner in which these promises will be delivered (the how) varies somewhat

  • RISE MZANSI with a credible leadership team will deliver by focusing on our Constitutional Rights.
  • The DA with a proven track record in the Western Cape will try and build a Coalition Opposition Force to be reckoned with.
  • The EFF will nationalize and take everything.
  • CHANGE STARTS NOW will raise the money needed now to implement their turnaround strategy.

For me the CHANGE STARTS NOW delivery approach resonates; reform, jobs, social grants, education, loadshedding, infrastructure can’t wait for lethargic economic growth to make it happen (Although the Possessive Liberals won’t like it – don’t sit on my bank balance! https://www.sagoodnews.co.za/talking-of-our-country-where-do-you-stand-sit)  Given the fact that the party launched two months ago I doubt they have a snowballs chance in hell of attaining a single parliamentary seat, but I hope their leader Roger Jardine lends his business acumen to the Multiparty Charter

Sadly, in my view, none of these parties, other than the EFF, has a compelling, charismatic orator who will rouse the masses to the point where they will vote, and vote differently.

In summarizing I have attempted to focus on the nub of each party’s deliverables, not easy and maybe contested!

Next month I will get to the ANC, Action SA, IFP and FF+ manifestos