So many things has happened since my last blog entry. It seems that when we have to write we are to busy to write and when we have time to write all the important things has passed.

South Africa completed its national elections on 7 May which occupied my mind.  29 parties competed for votes. The African National Congress, the rulling party, again won the elections convincingly with 62% of the votes. Their support however dropped from 65.7% which they gained in the 2009 election. The drop can mostly be ascribed to storm clouds around some of the actions of the South African President. With a 73% voter turn out it is still a convincing win for any political party. The opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, gained most from the Presidents decrease in popularity, by gaining 22% of the votes relative to the previous election’s 16.6%.  The Congress of the People was the biggest losers of the election. They had 8% of the vote in 2009 as a new entering party and ended up this election with only 0.67% of the vote.  Their demise was can totally be ascribed to leadership infighting where the leaders ended up in court to determine who is the actual leader. They fought to end up with a bone that was just an illusion. The new comer this year was a more radical party called the Economic Freedom Fighters who comfortably slipped into the 3rd place with 6% of the votes. They promote the nationalisation of mines, big business etc. Their leader, Mr Malema was kicked out of the ruling party in 2013 and he mobilised within less than 8 months more than a million votes and will certainly bring a new dimension to South African politics. The Inkatha Freedom party gained the fourth place with just over 2% of the vote which is almost a 50% drop since the previous elections…their drop can be attributed to a split in the party. The Natonal Freedom Party broke away from the Inkatha freedom party to get to the 5th point.

You wil not find me in any of the first 5 parties. My vote went for the Freedom Front Plus, a party that primarily drives interest politics and promotes minority rights with some emphasis on protecting the rights of Afrikaners as a minority group.  The party gained only 0.9% of the votes but they experienced a 13% growth from the previous election and they gained an additional seat in the National assembly. It is a small party but they have very competent leaders and has achieved a lot in the past, mostly by using legislation and the courts to fight issues where they think the ruling party abuse their power. Off course resources are limited and they need to select carefully where they assert themselves. South Africa working as a proportional election system and teh efficiency of the party makes it worthwhile to put my vote behind a smaller more effective party. They are the 7th biggest party of the 29 that took part in the election and will continue to play a role in ensuring that diverse views are heard during our parliamentary debates.