Elections: Small Parties with Big Issues

Four small political parties; Women Forward (WF), Movement Democratic Party (MDP), KISS and Al Jam-ah. It is unlikely that any of these parties will get a seat in parliament, so why do they bother to stand for the elections?

All of these small parties have big issues which motivate them.

Jake Maseka of MDP said that he would not be leading a small party if he wasn’t passionate about what he is doing. He added that he is not in this election race for the money. He is currently losing money spent on the campaign. As a former UDM MP he made more money from his own businesses. Maseka is a jack of all trades; an advocate with his own law practice, a businessman who runs a mortuary, an undertakers and he owns 3 taxis.

Nana Ngobese-Khumalo, leader of WF said that her party wants to emulate qualities seen in women. The WF manifesto says, "Women feed everybody: WF will strive to end poverty… Women share: WF will distribute resources equitably." The big issue for WF is to get government to work with women in local communities. Ngobese-Khumalo believes that women are the backbone of society and that through women empowerment will lead to social development.

The way parliamentary seats are allocated depends on two things; the number of voters and a complicated set of mathematical formulas. Michael Hendricks, senior manager of election matters at the Independent Electoral Commission said that in 2004 a party needed about 38 000 votes to get one seat in the National Assembly. KISS party has never won more than six thousand five hundred votes while the other three parties were all formed last year so they have no track record.

With a minimal budget for campaigning all parties are operating a tight budget. Three parties have a website but all are aware that they need to spread their name and policies widely. KISS (Keep It Straight and Simple) party will live up to its name and run a simple campaign by advertising in all major newspapers once. Leader of the party, Claire Gainsford said that she inherited money from her mother and believes that what she is spending it on is worthwhile. To register a political party costs just R500 but to contest a national election costs R180 000.

Al Jam-ah has tailored its campaign to target its most likely support base by speaking at mosques around the country. The party wants to legalise Muslim marriages so that Muslim couples do not have to go to a magistrate’s court to legalise their wedding vows.

Door to door campaigns do not cost much but they also do not reach nearly as many people. Movement Democratic Party (MDP) members are running door to door campaigns in their communities but their leader Maseka said, "As a small party we are struggling to raise funds". The party planned to spend 1.9 million rand campaigning but have only managed to print 2500 T-shirts and 70 000 manifestos.

It is often said that small parties are formed in order to create coalitions. But only one of the four parties openly admitted that this was part of their plan. "We have a long term view, we want to be part of a three party state which we feel will emerge in 2014 and we want to jointly rule the country with the ANC and COPE and ourselves," said Ganief Hendricks, Al Jam-ah leader. But Gainsford is adamant that she’d never ever enter into a coalition.

The elections results will decide whether these passionate small party leaders will ever get the chance to take up their big issues in parliament itself.