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Cape Town – The electricity crisis that has hit South Africa will impact the ANC’s results in the 2016 local government elections, as voters point to the governing party’s role in Eskom’s failure to deliver basic energy needs to citizens and businesses, according to a political analyst.
Political analyst Daniel Silke said that politically there is a greater vulnerability for the ANC now than ever before.
“The ANC should be extremely concerned about the lack of ability of Eskom to rectify … the problems that we have,” he said.
“Issues surrounding electricity and power really cut to the core daily lives of South Africans,” he said. “It affects everything you do. It’s a very in-your-face failure on the part of the state to provide a very basic service.
“If we continue to have rolling blackouts on a very regular basis over the course of the next year … [it] will frustrate South Africans … and shake up their [loyal ANC members'] belief in the ruling party.
“It can, from a political point of view, cause more fragmentation of the ANC vote,” he said. “This is enough to cause the ANC sleepless nights … [and] it could cause the ANC to lose control of critical local government metros, especially in Gauteng and perhaps in Port Elizabeth.”
Watch the full interview:
“The ANC should not underestimate the psychological effect of electricity blackouts of all South Africans … who are increasingly holding government to account for their failure to deliver on a variety of different governance [issues] in South Africa.”
“We are embarking next year on a year-long election campaign in advance of the 2016 local government election,” he said. “It’s already started. An ANC who loses control of Tshwane or Ekurhuleni … will be even more vulnerable if they should lose the political and economic heartland of South Africa to opposition political parties.”
He said the loss could be moderate, but would be enough for the ANC to feel the heat at the polls over the course of the next number of years.
If the ANC and Eskom manage to keep the power on, however, the story could change. “When the power is on, South Africans probably tend to forget about some of these issues.”
* Read our full coverage on load shedding.
* Share your views via email about #loadshedding24
Tweets about "#loadshedding"
Political analyst Daniel Silke said that politically there is a greater vulnerability for the ANC now than ever before.
“The ANC should be extremely concerned about the lack of ability of Eskom to rectify … the problems that we have,” he said.
“Issues surrounding electricity and power really cut to the core daily lives of South Africans,” he said. “It affects everything you do. It’s a very in-your-face failure on the part of the state to provide a very basic service.
“If we continue to have rolling blackouts on a very regular basis over the course of the next year … [it] will frustrate South Africans … and shake up their [loyal ANC members'] belief in the ruling party.
“It can, from a political point of view, cause more fragmentation of the ANC vote,” he said. “This is enough to cause the ANC sleepless nights … [and] it could cause the ANC to lose control of critical local government metros, especially in Gauteng and perhaps in Port Elizabeth.”
Watch the full interview:
“The ANC should not underestimate the psychological effect of electricity blackouts of all South Africans … who are increasingly holding government to account for their failure to deliver on a variety of different governance [issues] in South Africa.”
“We are embarking next year on a year-long election campaign in advance of the 2016 local government election,” he said. “It’s already started. An ANC who loses control of Tshwane or Ekurhuleni … will be even more vulnerable if they should lose the political and economic heartland of South Africa to opposition political parties.”
He said the loss could be moderate, but would be enough for the ANC to feel the heat at the polls over the course of the next number of years.
If the ANC and Eskom manage to keep the power on, however, the story could change. “When the power is on, South Africans probably tend to forget about some of these issues.”
* Read our full coverage on load shedding.
* Share your views via email about #loadshedding24
Tweets about "#loadshedding"
