As voting day for the 2024 National and Provincial Elections draw closer political parties are out in full force trying to court as many potential voters.
The election is expected to have a record number of parties and for the first time will feature independent candidates.
One of the debutants, Arise South Africa launched its manifesto at a bookshop in Rosebank, Johannesburg on Thursday and is promising to bring an innovative approach to some of the country’s most pressing challenges such as unemployment, electricity crisis and corruption.
The event was also used to launch the book of founder and party leader Mpho Dagada.
Dagada said his party is going to employ fresh ideas that he said would be driven mostly by technology.
“South Africa has an abundance of mineral wealth that can be used to build the Fourth. Industrial Revolution (4IR) and beyond, yet many of its people are poor and unemployed.
“This discrepancy illustrates the country’s true divide between potential and current reality. The potential to use its mineral wealth to build a 4IRand beyond is clear, but the country is currently struggling with high levels of unemployment and poverty.
“This disconnect between the country’s resources and its people underscores the need to create an environment where mineral wealth can be extracted, processed and sold for use at home as well as abroad,” said Dagada.
Dagada said if elected the party will also establish mineral processing hubs around mining communities to power up manufacturing which said will create millions of jobs.
“South Africa has the potential to unlock a new level of economic growth and prosperit through its mineral wealth. Currently, most of the country’s mineral resources are exported as raw materials, which earn billions of dollars in revenue for the nation. However, by processing these minerals locally and exporting them as fi nished goods, this potential could be realised in much greater abundance,” he said.
The party’s Secretary General Bafana Langa said it opted for a book store with a small audience as part of a “new culture” that he said the party sought to promote.
“We will still do stadiums but for this one we decided together with the president that we launch the manifesto with the book to show South Africans that we are about information, we want people to know and learn,” he said.
Langa said while the party will run a traditional campaign of physical contact with potential voters, it will also mount what he calls a newer model of a 4IR campaign which will focus on reaching youth online.