Every cent spent on election campaign was worth it - Mokonyane

5 August 2016

Pretoria - ANC elections head Nomvula Mokonyane says "every cent spent" of the R1bn on the party's election campaign was worth it.

Speaking to News24 on the floor of the election results centre on Friday morning, she said: "We never go into contestation with the intention to lose."

But about the money she said: "It was all worth it, everything we have put into the campaign was worth it, particularly human capital that you can't actually cost.

"The number of volunteers who have come out, ordinary South Africans, who are not even members of the ANC, but supporters. People volunteered their transport and everything. It was worth it."

During the ANC’s elections campaign, Mokonyane revealed that the party had spent R1bn on trying to convince people to vote for the party – even though political parties usually don’t declare their campaign spending.

Mokonyane blamed the ANC’s dip in support on the weather in some parts of the country, as well as, perhaps, insufficient "voter education".

"We are quite elated because the 3rd of August [voting day] was left to the voter. The 3rd of August was the determination of the voter. Unfortunately, one of the realities (was) we had very, very unfortunate weather conditions that affected some parts of our country."

She said the ANC also needed to deal with "voter education".

"I know there are parties that didn’t lift a finger and they’ve got numbers (of votes). We appreciate again it’s the democracy and the maturity of democracy."

She said the turnout affected municipalities like the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, where she said the party got 36 out of the 60 wards. But, because of low turnout, the party’s percentage of proportional representation votes was low.

"That is something that we have to reflect on and we will await the outcome of the results," she said.

"Of importance is, that amidst all the issues that have been said, the majority of South Africans, particularly those that rely on government, have actually affirmed the ANC," she said.

ANC spokespeople have contradicted each other over whether the party was happy or not about the election results.

ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa on Thursday night said the party was "buoyant" and "energized" about the just over 54% of votes it had garnered nationally so far, while ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu said it was "cause for concern" that the party had dipped below 60% for the first time.

The ANC’s table on the results floor was a hub of activity as Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the centre.

This article first appeared on News24, see here.