by Nurat Uthman
South Africa’s most competitive election since the advent of democracy could provide opportunities for new political party Rise Mzansi to make innovative deals and improve parliamentary oversight, its leader said on Tuesday.
With polls suggesting the African National Congress, which has been in power for 30 years, will lose its majority for the first time since the end of apartheid in the May 29 vote, smaller parties have come into focus as potential coalition partners or kingmakers.
Songezo Zibi, 48, who founded Rise Mzansi last year and has been campaigning on what he describes as social democratic ideas, said a good result for his party would be to get 5% of the vote, which would translate into 20 seats in the national parliament.
He did not rule out entering into a coalition with any other party, but said Rise Mzansi would not support anyone corrupt or suspected of corruption. He added that there were other ways to make an impact than being in government.
“There is an opportunity in this election to do some innovative trade-offs, to say ‘we will vote for political party A for premier, for president, but we insist on chairing … certain oversight committees’,” Zibi told Reuters in an interview.
South Africans vote for their national and provincial parliaments, which then elect the country’s president and provincial premiers.
Zibi said Rise Mzansi was also open to working with different parties or groups of parties on a case-by-case basis to help legislation get through parliament.
