Dr Alexander Beresford predicts victory for the African National Congress in South African election
Dr Beresford explains how these rallies “reveal a great deal about the nature of their campaigns and also their strengths and vulnerabilities”.
Dr Beresford's article discusses his prediction that The African National Congress will win in the South African election.
It is entitled "Tale of three rallies as ANC prepares to claim another huge win in the South African Election".
He begins by setting the scene of the election rallies in Soweto, held by all three parties, of which more than 100,000 supporters attended. Another landslide victory is expected by the ruling party, The African National Congress (ANC), who "has won every election since the liberation election of 1994".
Dr Beresford explains how these rallies “reveal a great deal about the nature of their campaigns and also their strengths and vulnerabilities”. Support for the African National Congress was in the thousands, and it was a “graphic illustration of the importance of identity politics within the party and the capacity of the ANC to offer its membership a collective sense of belonging”.
Dr Beresford continues on, highlighting that the spectaculars of the event were perhaps more vibrant than the political matters they went on to discuss. The ANC president’s speech was described as “rather predictably, a laborious affair”, taking a “leisurely 46 minutes to list the ANC’s achievements since 1994”. His lack of charisma was clearly evident among the early departures of spectators.
Dr Beresford is also quoted in an article by Annabelle Quince, who considers why the ANC (African National Congress) is likely to gain less than 60 per cent of the election votes for the first time since the introduction of multiracial voting in 1994.
