Major parties' views on some key policies

With power brokering for a national coalition government in full swing, we look at how much SA’s four major political parties agree on some key policies.

Black economic empowerment (BEE)

ANC:

• The party believes that BEE is a moral, political, social and economic requirement of the country’s collective future.

DA:

• It says broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) has proven to be a deeply flawed approach to economic inclusion. According to the party, BBBEE empowers a small politically connected elite.

MK Party:

• The party says BEE has failed businesses owned by individuals from marginalised communities including black people, women, and youth entrepreneurs [who] persistently face marginalisation.

EFF: 

    ● The party commits to economic transformation aligning with BEE objectives.

Constitutionalism

ANC:

• The party says every citizen, irrespective of race, colour, language, gender, status, sexual orientation or creed, should know that his or her basic rights and freedoms are guaranteed by the constitution and enforceable by recourse to law.

DA:

• The DA says creating a society based on the constitution is essential for SA's progress and economic growth. 

MK Party:

• The party believes SA's constitution is colonial, founded on Roman-Dutch law with every little influence of African jurisprudence. The party wants to hold a referendum to scrap the 1996 constitution and replace it with a parliamentary system with or without a codified constitution.

EFF:

• It will introduce provisions specifically aimed at the protection of vulnerable groups, especially women, children, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQI community.

National Health Insurance (NHI)

ANC: 

• It would strengthen health services and implement the NHI to make quality healthcare affordable and available to all.

DA: 

• The party believes that the NHI is a populist proposal with a risk of bankrupting the fiscus and deepening the healthcare system crisis. The DA wants to lower private healthcare costs and guarantee a minimum package of services.

MK Party:

• Implement the NHI scheme as an instrument to redistribute resources in the healthcare system away from the expensive private healthcare system. Establish a state pharmaceutical company to break the power of private capitalist monopoly over the SA health system.

EFF:

• The party believes the NHI system is unsustainable and that in its current form, the NHI is an overt admittance by the ANC government of its failure to build a working public health system for people.

Minimum wage

ANC: 

• It would ensure the national minimum wage increases in line with inflation and ensure compliance.

DA

• The DA plans to create more jobs for the youth by introducing a youth employment opportunity certificate. It says the certificate will empower young people to break free from the constraints of the minimum wage, giving them better chances of finding jobs. 

MK Party:

• The party says the state will offer employment to everyone willing and able to work at a decent wage above the minimum wage of R4,500, with skills development and training opportunities.

EFF:

• The EFF will pass legislation that ensures a minimum wage of R6,000 across the board for all fulltime workers and will fight to ensure that domestic workers, mineworkers, farmworkers and cleaners were among those who receive the minimum wage.

Support for Palestine

ANC:

• It advances progressive internationalism and solidarity with the peoples of Palestine, Western Sahara, Cuba and others.

DA: 

• The party says it stands in solidarity with both Palestinians and Israelis who seek a two-state solution. The DA stands against radicalism and violence. The party says it rejects any sentiment that seeks to annihilate either Israel or Palestine.

MK Party:

The party stands in solidarity with Palestine.  

EFF:

• The EFF supports Palestinians' assertion of their right to self-determination and will support the Palestinian assertion of their own independent state.

Expropriation of land

ANC:

• The party says it will use provisions in the constitution and expropriation legislation to accelerate land reform and redistribution to reduce asset inequality and protect security of tenure, improve food security and agricultural production, promote rural and urban development and enable greater access to housing. 

DA:

• The DA would protect property rights as enshrined in the constitution and expand land ownership by prioritising land reform in the budget.

MK Party: 

• The party believes in expropriating all land without compensation and transferring ownership to the people under state and traditional leadership custodianship. 

EFF:

• EFF says it will reintroduce the motion to amend the constitution to permit expropriation of land without compensation.

Free education

ANC:

• In the Freedom Charter, the ANC says education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children.  

DA:

• The DA believes that the government’s policy of providing free higher education should be replaced with an income-based model that includes grants and loans.

MK Party

• The party aims to ensure free, mandatory, high-quality education from early childhood to postgraduate level to boost human capital and research capability.

EFF:

• The EFF says it will provide free education to all children of school-going age. All children will have access to free early childhood development education under the EFF government.