With local government elections set for 1 November, South Africa’s farming sector is urged to play its part in getting “capable candidates who can deliver basic services” into power.
Cooperative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma announced the election date on Wednesday, 8 September. This was despite the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) earlier application to postpone the elections due to Covid-19 safety concerns. The Constitutional Court dismissed the application and ordered the IEC to hold the local government elections by no later than 1 November 2021.
Agri SA executive director Christo van der Rheede said that as an industry association committed to the development of agriculture in the country, they welcomed the ruling as it provides clarity going forward.
He told Food For Mzansi he deems it highly important that farming and rural communities participate in local government elections.
“It’s critical for farming communities to vote and to ensure that capable candidates are voted for who can deliver basic services.
“Agri SA supports the efforts of the IEC in terms of voter education. And we call on the agricultural sector to support the efforts of the IEC.”
Voting in a crucial production time for farms
Political analyst Theo Venter says he has faith that the agricultural sector will make provision for the elections and that workers will be allowed to vote, even as election day will be in a critical period for agricultural production.
The most crucial time for South Africa’s summer crop and some horticulture products, and by extension the livestock sector, is between October and February as summer rainfall is a determinant of coming harvests and veld conditions.
Furthermore, the optimal planting window for maize and soybeans closes around mid-November in the eastern regions of South Africa, and in mid-December for the central and western regions.
“We can trust the agricultural sector to make provision for the fact that the elections will take place on 1 November, and that workers [could maybe] work half day,” he says. “It is very important for a farming sector to participate, whether it’s the farmers themselves or the workers.”
Boycotting voting polls?
The other big challenge, Venter points out, is the uncertainty on how voters will respond to the ruling party’s handling of Covid-19.
“Are they going to move to another party like we have seen in Zambia or are they going to stay with their current allegiance to a specific political party and stay away from the polls?” he asks.
According to Venter, low voter turnout tends to happen especially when South Africans are not happy.
“They were not happy with Jacob Zuma and stayed away from the polls. This allowed the DA and other smaller parties to make major victories in towns and cities. The big question is, how are they going to deal with it now?”
In the meantime, Venter says he is pleased to see that the constitutional court respected the constitution (as is expected of them) and refrained from changing the constitution to make a provision for an election extension into 2022.
“In a sense this is a victory for the constitution in a very big way.”
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