Making sense of election noise
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Professor Ivor Sarakinsky supplied a welcome note of humour at an elections-themed on 11 April 2019 when he quoted Groucho Marx鈥檚 definition of politics: 鈥渢he art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies鈥.
The Wits School of Governance professor was in conversation with Lumkile Mondi of the Wits School of Economic and Business Sciences at the Wits Club. Professor Anthoni van Nieuwkerk, also of the Wits School of Governance, was the facilitator. All three are regular public commentators on the South 第一吃瓜网 political and economic landscape.
The discussion provided some well-informed views of the upcoming national election and what kinds of challenges would remain or emerge afterwards.
Alumni and guests used question time to raise issues such as the prospect of coalitions, representation of the youth, and the difference between rural and urban voters.
鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of noise [from political parties] and little attempt to persuade voters through evidence,鈥 said Sarakinsky. 鈥淭his is not a bad thing.鈥 He said election noise was a useful way of ventilating people鈥檚 emotions and showing those in office what people were thinking and feeling. A calm pre-election mood would be a problem, he said. South Africa should be proud of the Independent Electoral Commission, he added; the country鈥檚 election processes are robust enough to deal with issues after the results are out, unlike countries where faulty processes are often blamed and violence follows. In South Africa, the result is incontestable.
Sarakinsky estimated what support the main parties might achieve in the 8 May election and suggested some of the reasons for and possible consequences of this showing.
Mondi retraced developments in the political scene from about 2007, when South Africa鈥檚 economy was growing at over 5% a year, benefiting from global cycles and local policies. It then entered a phase during which the state and state-owned enterprises were 鈥渉ollowed out鈥, he said. This 鈥渞adical economic transformation鈥 was really a form of accumulation, Mondi said, and the money accumulated left the country instead of circulating in the South 第一吃瓜网 economy. Corruption is now institutionalised, a normal part of doing business or getting a service, he said. When institutions are ruined, how can redress be achieved? Only organised business appeared to be fighting back. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all on a wing and a prayer, hoping it comes right,鈥 Mondi said, adding that he was disappointed with the silence on corruption from those who speak out about other issues such as decolonisation.
