The real work starts now
Despite the excessive election bill to lure voters and drag opponents through the mud, the outcome is not a done deal yet
AS local government election results stream in from the Independent Electoral Commission, its only a matter of time before we will be able to fully assess whether the hundreds of millions of rands pumped into extravagant electioneering campaigns have paid off for the political contenders.
The irony though is despite the excessive election bill to lure voters and drag opponents through the mud, the outcome is not a done deal yet.
The stage is set for an interesting concoction of new coalitions in areas where there were no outright victors. This could very well see rivals reluctantly having to bury the hatchet to govern municipalities.
This year’s fierce poll race was no doubt dominated by big party spending in stark contrast to the smaller contenders conceding that there was just no budget for much fanfare on their part.
The ANC reportedly splurged R1-billion on its campaign. This excludes the millions spent by government departments and local councils on all kinds of service delivery projects claimed by opposition parties to be thinly disguised electioneering ploys.
The DA is said to have coughed up about R350-million with late private funders boosting that figure.
The IFP reportedly spent between R15-million and R20-million, with the UDM not spending more than R4-million.
The EFF was seemingly at the bottom of the food chain, admitting to having a ‘hand-to-mouth’ budget that depended on ‘other fighters to provide resources’.
Political parties, however, have sadly lost the plot.
The best method of attracting votes and supporters is not splurging hundreds of millions on superficial marketing schemes.
Simply good governance speaks for itself and remains the best electioneering campaign.
If parties would just deliver services to its constituents efficiently and timeously, there would be less need to splurge on lavish festivities.
As in any corporate entity, the bottom line linked to performance assessments is really what matters and counts.
Good governance from our political front runners goes without saying.
The parties and political shenanigans are over. The real work starts now. It’s time to deliver.
