Cape Town — Independent electoral candidate, Zackie Achmat, ran for political candidacy in the hopes of getting a seat in Parliament, but he fell short with only 10 500 votes.
Achmat was, however, the most successful independent candidate and said he has made peace with his showing at the polls. He said the independent candidates were at a disadvantage at the polls from the start. Despite not receiving enough votes for a sear in Parliament, he performed better than all other indpednent candidates, as well as some smaller political parties, EWN reported.
“They entered the race late, they had less resources, so it’s not an indictment on them, it’s the fact that given the way the system is set up, you have to create a party-type organisation in order to win,” Achmat said.
Achmat did not dwell on his loss and will be determined to run for the 2026 local government elections.
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He weighed in on the country’s impending coalition and said he was fearful of the African National Congress (ANC), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) possibly teaming up.
“I do not want Jacob Zuma to rule the country again, because if the ANC goes into coalition with the EFF and MK, it effectively means Jacob Zuma is running the country.” he added.
According to News24, Achmat was happy that the DA stayed in charge of the because he did not want to see any sort of EFF-MK coalition in the Western Cape. Achmat said nationally, it would be tragic for the country to enter into a coalition with the EFF and MK Party.
“”For me, the pain is, beyond MK, to see the rise of the Patriotic Alliance, which is coloured nationalism that divides African and coloured people, never mind their xenophobia,” he said.
Achmat benefited from the so-called “split vote”, where voters voted for political parties at the provincial level but gave him their regional ballot vote, and said through the experience, his team had set up a number of activist forums on which he would continue to build.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
