Since the ascent to power of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1994, and the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in 1966, the concept of one-party dominance has dominated the South African and Botswana political landscape.

This is according to the research of Naledi Modise, political analyst and junior lecturer in the subject group Political Studies and International Relations at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Mahikeng.

Naledi’s research focused on how voter attitude translates into voter behaviour, and how this contributes to the one-party dominance in Botswana and South Africa.

Her study revealed a positive sentiment towards a multi-party system in both Botswana and South Africa, but also that incumbent governing parties are trusted more.

“This sentiment was consistent with electoral results in which the BDP and ANC enjoyed majority support,” says Naledi.

“Despite the positive predisposition towards the governing parties in both countries, the study further provided evidence that opposition parties enjoyed a larger share of the electoral support. In Botswana for example, electoral support is fragmented among opposition political parties and this fragmentation, in conjunction with the electoral system in Botswana, maintains the BDP’s electoral and legislative dominance,” she adds.

“In South Africa, voter apathy maintains one-party dominance, and this is a result of failure of some of the South African electorate to take advantage of their universal suffrage right. To this end, the remaining active voters continue to maintain the ANC’s dominance.”

This year South Africa went to the polls in its sixth election cycle, which saw the ANC winning with 57,5% of the national vote. Botswana is set to have their elections on 19 October 2019, with the BDP having won 46,45% of the national vote during their 2014 elections.

 Naledi Modise