2019 results The winds of division

The outcome of the 2019 election and how it played out in the platteland brings no happy tidings: it shows that interpersonal and race relations have declined notably over the past five years – and this statement is even more true of the platteland than it is of urban areas.

The results in the platteland, with the exception of KwaZuluNatal and the Western Cape, are probably the weakest when it comes to reconciliation, constitutionality and non-racialism. We also saw the most divided, and divisive, voting behaviour since the birth of our democracy.

Although it is not true everywhere, the centrifugal parties – those that do not seek the centre – namely the EFF (the party in parliament that is furthest to the left and believes