Paragraph 1:Paragraph 1: The Patriotic Alliance (PA), led by Gayton McKenzie, is holding its final rally before the May 2024 general election. The PA has attracted support from many lower-income “coloured” voters due to its populist solutions, including reinstating the death penalty, abolishing illegal immigration, and creating employment programs exclusively for them. Paragraph 2: In recent Western Cape elections, “coloured” voters predominantly voted for the DA, PA, and National Colored Congress (NCC). The ANC, which had previously received significant support from coloured voters, has lost ground to these parties. Paragraph 3: Voter demographics play a role in electoral divisions within coloured communities. In affluent neighbourhoods, voters support the DA, while in rural areas with high unemployment and social problems, voters support the PA and NCC. Paragraph 4: Lower-income coloured voters are particularly drawn to the PA’s populist policies due to their struggles with job competition from migrant workers, social problems, and unequal access to opportunities. Paragraph 5: Middle-class coloured voters primarily support the DA, preserving their lifestyle and opportunities. The PA and NCC votes among this demographic reflect a desire for self-assertion, dignity, and recognition. Paragraph 6: The low tertiary education participation rate among Afrikaans-speaking coloured men is a major challenge that contributes to the cycle of poverty and underdevelopment. Paragraph 7: Collaboration between political parties, elite coloured individuals, and businesses is needed to increase tertiary education access and break the cycle of disadvantage in working-class coloured communities.
The Gayton McKenzie-led Patriotic Alliance (PA) is holding its final rally at the Sunbet Arena in Pretoria before the May 2024 general election. Many lower-income ‘coloured’ voters have been attracted to the PA by its populist solutions, such as reinstating the death penalty, abolishing illegal immigrants and creating employment programmes designed exclusively for them, the writer says. Photo: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspaper
By Christo van der Rheede
The recent elections in the Western Cape expose deep historical divisions and unresolved challenges, especially in the ‘coloured’ community.
Colored voters mainly voted for the DA, Patriotic Alliance (PA) and National Colored Congress (NCC; formerly the Cape Colored Congress) in recent elections. A smaller number of people voted for the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), GOOD, Africa Restoration Alliance and the People’s Movement for Change.
The ANC, which had received a considerable number of coloured votes in the previous elections, has now received noticeably fewer votes. But GOOD and the ACDP were the biggest losers in the Western Cape, ceding many votes to the PA and the NCC.
There are certain reasons that have driven colored voters in the Western Cape to vote for the DA, PA and NCC in large numbers. To understand this, you need to analyze certain electoral divisions in predominantly communities of color and present them as case studies.
In the Charleston Hill housing estate in Paarl, the DA received 449 (55.71 percent) votes, compared to 533 (74.34 percent) in 2016. The PA received 199 (24.69 percent) and NCC 12 (1.49 percent) votes.
This is a predominantly upper income or middle class neighborhood of color (teachers and other professionals), hence the overwhelming support for the DA.
In the Gouda region, a rural area with a predominantly coloured working class (factory workers, farm workers and the unemployed), the picture is different. The DA dropped from 574 (44.09 percent) in 2019 to 207 (17.88 percent) votes in 2024. The PA, with its 382 (32.99 percent) votes, dealt the DA a blow.
Against this background, it is abundantly clear that voters of color do not vote on the basis of a narrow ethnic background, but primarily on the basis of income and the issues that affect them in a particular area.
In particular, it is the people of color from the lower income classes, the working class and the unemployed in rural areas who have given their support to the PA. These are people who have not necessarily lost confidence in the DA, but instead were motivated by certain socio-economic circumstances to vote for the PA.
They compete for jobs with mainly migrant workers from other provinces and our neighbouring countries. They feel overlooked by employers who prefer immigrants who in some cases are employed illegally. Social problems, especially gangsterism, violence and drug and alcohol abuse, negatively affect many coloured working-class neighbourhoods.
We often learn about innocent children and adults injured or killed by stray bullets. Dropping out of school deprives them of further studies, not to mention the many other socio-social challenges they face on a daily basis.
It is no surprise, then, that they are attracted to Gayton McKenzie’s populist solutions, such as reinstating the death penalty, banning illegal immigrants and creating job creation programs exclusively for them.
The colored middle class and elite, on the other hand, voted largely for the DA. It is certain that support for the PA also came from their ranks, but to a much lesser extent.
The reality between higher-income communities of color and lower-income communities of color is dramatically different. The middle class lives in affluent neighborhoods, their children attend good schools, have access to local and international colleges and universities, and qualify as teachers, doctors, engineers, and many other professions.
Their vote is a vote for the preservation of their lifestyle, privileges and opportunities offered by the DA government in the Western Cape. A vote for the PA and the NCC, on the other hand, is clearly a protest vote in the hope of ending the marginalisation they experience. It is a vote of desperation, a cry for help, recognition and equal access to opportunities.
However, it would be a mistake to attribute their vote for the PA and NCC solely to marginalization. There are also other factors at play driven by their association with political leaders coming from within their own ranks.
It is also clear from the social media posts of PA supporters that there is a burning desire to assert themselves in a unique and independent way and reclaim their human dignity.
This is reflected in their active involvement and the passionate way in which they make the PA’s activities their own.
The latter is a positive development that should be encouraged, especially in the field of education. Too few colored Afrikaans speakers go to universities or colleges.
The number of students of color at tertiary institutions reached 5.3 percent in 2022. Of this group, the number of African-speaking men of color was 5,109 students out of 1,077,768 bachelor’s and master’s students. Only 0.5 percent!
This is the enormous crisis at the heart of the many socio-economic challenges in the working-class community of color. It calls for large-scale cooperation to tackle the phenomenon of boys leaving school before completing primary or secondary school. And providing funding to get the working class of color and especially youth of color back to school and help them access higher education institutions.
The vicious circle of poverty, unemployment, drug abuse, gangs and violence against women and children can only be broken if more young Afrikaans-speaking people of colour go to universities and colleges.
This is what the DA, PA and NCC should focus on. With the help of elite people of color and businesspeople, such a concerted effort would go a long way toward freeing them from the trap of poverty and underdevelopment.
* Christo van der Rheede is an adjunct professor at the University of the Free State.
**The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of The African
