LUKANYO MNYANDA: Will parties draw the correct lessons from the election?
From DA disaster to ANC abatement, the 2019 polls put the spotlight on weak areas
So in the end, the centre held. For a young democracy in such an unequal society, SA voters showed themselves to be mature. They didn’t fall for the wild and uncosted promises of the hard left. That was one of the most noticeable features of this election — that political parties could run on a campaign of promising freebies on everything, without explaining how they would fund it all. Perhaps that should be the next step in the evolution of our democracy. Voters should be told in advance how much every promise will cost and where the money will come, even if the promise comes from a party that has no chance of being in government. Just as an example, the EFF should explain the fiscal consequences of its policy of nationalising all the land in the country. What would that do to the value of property? And what about mortgaged property? Would the government then compensate the banking sector, or just let it collapse? To what end? The party fared much worse than expected though it di...
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