Why opposition parties in southern Africa struggle to win power

This is particularly so in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

While eight in 10 citizens in the two countries report poor government performance on their top policy priority (unemployment) only 37% say that another political party could solve the problem.

What role should opposition parties play?

Only a minority of citizens in the five southern African countries with dominant parties agree that the opposition’s primary role should be to monitor and criticise the government in order to hold it accountable.

This is true even among respondents who are opposition party supporters.

In South Africa there’s even been a decline since 2008/2009 in support for opposition parties playing a “watchdog” role.

This suggests that opposition parties might put off potential voters if they are seen to be constantly criticising the ruling party rather than contributing to the country’s development.

Opposition parties might do better if they highlight their policy platforms and gain citizen confidence in their plans and capabilities.

This is a crucial insight for opposition parties in the region as it runs counter to the opposition’s conventional role in Western democracies.

By Rorisang Lekalake. This article first appeared in The Conversation

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