Impactful Campaign Costs

0:00As political parties ramp up their financial outlays for the upcoming local government elections, analysts are warning that the astronomical cost of modern campaigning is creating a dangerous vulnerability over the lines on depocketed donors whose financial lifelines can easily translate into undue political leverage. Thousands of candidates are contesting thousands of municipal seats on the 4th of November. On the line we welcome political analyst Dr. Annamag Matimka. Good morning and welcome to the program. Morning to you and your listeners, so thank you for having me. Thank you for joining us. So what are the logistics of running a visible high impact campaign and what are the costs for the accounts of those thousands contesting municipal seats? You have given the stark warnings that costly campaigns leave parties vulnerable to underworld figures. Yeah, so I mentioned this while speaking at the signing of the Code of Conduct for elections

1:06in the Eastern Cape as political parties gathered together with the IEC and really in there I'm grappling with the tension that's very permanent in representative democracies in terms of which very few of us you know avail themselves for public office and people go and contest public office saying they want to solve particular socio-political problems and the reality of the matter is once they assume office they grapple with internal commitment to you know making good on the promises they made to voters and the interests of whoever may have funded their campaigns to you know run office and and in fact it's grappling with an urge old idea in political philosophy. Play

2:10to mentions it this idea of whether it's possible to get representatives who truly mean well and can add in the best interests of the offices that they hold and the constituencies that put them in power and the market variant that says actually that's not true it's either rulers or representatives campaign for office pursuant to the unfairious agendas or the unfairious agendas of those who fund them so it's that that's the broader stage that I was negotiating this topic about loyalty of representatives and and and what receiving money and resources from you know a different groups in society whether that the business organized labor the underworld or crowdfunding has got implications on the loyalty of that representative

3:16and I was appealing in the talk I use to this idea which we find in this toss that says regardless of whether it's the idealist play to approach that representative campaigns for office or a market variant perspective there is a tosser proverbs that talk about how power is limited and there is no individual entity who can sufficiently cover themselves against potential you know a vulnerabilities of every kind then I'm saying on the basis of that instructive thinking within is it selected is it tosser proverbs we should be having people who are striving to be good for the sake of good in itself and to meet the requirements of their constituencies for the sake of it because they know that you know the world is a system and if you're too good you get

4:16invited if you're too bad you do not get invited yes it's a profound question that you ask and really really at the core of our system that we have and we certainly you know we need to grapple with these issues and find the way to navigate around them thank you very much for sharing these very very deep thoughtful ideas and we appreciate it and it will certainly stimulate discussion I'm thankful thank you for having me you have a lovely day thank you co-well bye bye that was our guest chatting to us this morning Dr. Ongama Matimka talking to us about you know the fact that it costs so much money to run a campaign and that the person wanting to participate in the campaign is not able to fund themselves on their own and then you appeal for funding and then it obviously has its implications from that we move on to Durban we'll be joining a

5:21coordinated global day of action for Palestine this Saturday what rallies taking place across more than 60 countries the Durban mobilization will bring together civil society organizations community groups students movements and human rights networks with organizers linking the call for Palestinian freedom to broader issues including gender-based violence in Afobia safety and human dignity the Durban rally will take place on Saturday the 10th of October the intersection of play field and a single road on North Beach we speak to a rally scene convener of the South African policy movement youth movement committee to discuss the initiative good morning and welcome to the program good morning thank you so much for having me so what is the global day of action for Palestine all about and what is the purpose of the mobilization taking place to Saturday right so the global day of action is part of a broader international campaign that's been

6:22organized by the global alliance for Palestine and it's taking place on the 10th of October and this is because that weekend marks the three years of relentless genocide that we have seen the livestream genocide that we've seen in the Gaza Strip and so on that day you have people from cities and countries all around the world partaking in marches and rallies to you know reinvigorate the conversation surrounding Palestine and reinvigorating calls for sanctions against Israel as well as an arms embargo yes certainly so is it important for Durban to be part of the international day of action well you know first and foremost Durban has a very rich history of political activism

7:27of political engagement whether it's on the academic front whether it's on like a front line activism so I think you know just for that fact it is very important for Durban to be involved in such you know an international campaign but also I think especially given the current political landscape in the city you know regarding the unfortunate rise of ethno nationalist politics I think having something or partaking in something like the global day of action for Palestine putting forward you know the importance of international solidarity and how you know recognizing the humanity in people across borders I think that is especially a poignant during these times yes in terms of you know the other issues that have been brought up by this violence in the

8:29phobia how are these connected to the broader calls for freedom and human rights right well you see South Africa is essentially a homicide capital of the world our homicide rates are six times more than the global average and you know if you there's been various reports including one where it being published by the UN that very much show that they're they deliver it and systematic pattern of the ideas use of sexual violence against women children and men and so I think it's very very important to show that the that there exists these similar patterns of violence that renders certain bodies as being obsolete and in terms of xenophobia one has to you know when you look at the social philosophy as to how we were able to have this live stream genocide for the past three years the

9:36root cause of it is essentially the dehumanization of Palestinian bodies the idea that Israeli lives are inherently worth more and because of that any violence met out against Palestinians is looked at as justified and right now if you look at the streets end urban you can see those similar patterns of dehumanization whether it is you know occupied Jerusalem or Khamakuta there exists the same type of social philosophy in which we view certain people as being left then and you know I think given the climate of where we are at right now in urban but also in South Africa especially approaching the local elections in November I think it is very very important to put xenophobia and GBGB into the calls for Palestinian liberation to show that all these struggles are interconnected

10:37and we all face the similar patterns of violence displacement and oppression a final welcome encouragement for people to participate on the weekend right well you know as I said before this is going to be very much a call for inter intersectional solidarity we are going to have people who are involved in you know in the fight against GBGB we're having people who have been involved in the fight against xenophobia and of course you know a lot of the people who are organizing this are being fervently involved with Palestinian advocacy so you know if you are someone who believes that human rights are universal universal and they cannot be taken away regardless of your nationality race, cloth, sex then I implore anyone to come here especially right now I think in

11:37urban and in South Africa you know when you look on Instagram or when you look on TikTok you see all these videos you know highlighting a lot of violence and bigotry it can feel very isolating I think coming out on Saturday being surrounded by like-minded people who are willing to put their bodies on the line is to show you that you are not alone that there are a lot of people who recognize the inhumanity injustice that you can see and they refuse to be quiet about it. Yes certainly thank you for highlighting this issue and we will continue following it and send our reporters and also we wish for all the best thank you go well. Thank you for having me. Thanks!