PREMIUM: Road to 2024 election probably less Canaan and more Calvary

The 2024 general election is less than two years away and, at this stage, it’s not Canaan but Hell that beckons.

Published on:

30 Aug 2022, 5:26 pm

In 2020, the Constitutional Court struck down an Electoral Act regulation limiting independents to local government level, compelling candidates for provincial or national office to join (or form) a political party. And many candidates responded to the call. First up for the 2024 presidency was Songezo Zibi, a former Business Day editor, who announced his candidacy with the words, "I am prepared to lead, for I know there will be no anointed Messiah at any point in the future. This includes running for president." Earlier this month, former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng joined the fray as presidential candidate of the All African Alliance Movement which is something of a one-man band — and a vehicle for his intention to mobilise the Christian fundamentalist vote. Makashule Gana, who recently resigned as a DA member of the Gauteng Legislature, hopes "to join an emerging generation of leaders … to return power to the people of South Africa". No shortage of candidates then – but as William Saunderson-Meyer points out below, mere ambition is not enough: To be electorally successful requires substantial financial and organisational resources: offices, vehicles, computers, researchers, organisers, and party agents in every constituency. Article was first published on Politicsweb. – Sandra Laurence