South Africa

This article is more than a year old

ROAD TO 2024 ELECTIONS

Change Ends Now – Roger Jardine’s new political party won’t contest May 29 polls

Roger Jardine's freshly minted party, Change Starts Now, has decided to sit out the 2024 elections.

Roger Jardine during the launch of Change Starts Now's election manifesto at the Kliptown Youth Centre on 19 February 2024 in Soweto, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Fani Mahuntsi)

By Victoria O’Regan

1 Mar 2024

Former FirstRand Group chair Roger Jardine’s political start-up Change Starts Now will not contest in the 2024 national and provincial elections, the leader announced on Thursday evening.

The party had only 10 days prior launched its manifesto in Kliptown, Soweto, on 19 February 2024, setting out big ideas to improve society.

The banker-turned-party leader, in a statement posted to X, blamed the “...recent Constitutional Court ruling and the barriers it imposes on newly established political parties”, which means Change Starts Now “like several other parties, faces a prejudicial, logistical timetable to qualify for the ballot”.

“We have therefore taken a decision that, while we believe that it is essential to give voters as much encouragement to vote by providing them with a range of options, in the interests of increasing the chances of political change, we offer support to political parties who share our values and the aspirations that we believe voters are looking for,” Jardine said.

Please take note of our latest media release. pic.twitter.com/3H3Y3uq5se
— Roger Jardine (@RogerJardineZA) February 29, 2024

On Monday, South Africa’s apex court declined to hear a matter relating to signature requirements for unrepresented political parties on an urgent basis. Political think tank Rivonia Circle and Mmusi Maimane’s Build One SA (Bosa) had petitioned the Constitutional Court in December 2023, to urgently finalise its decision on how many signatures new parties which are not represented in any of the legislatures needed for the elections.

This is after the Constitutional Court struck out the Electoral Amendment Act’s provision requiring that to stand, independents needed to obtain signatures equivalent to 15% of the votes required to win a seat in the previous election in the province in which they intended to register. It ruled that independent candidates required 1,000 signatures of registered voters to register with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

However, the court stopped short of scrapping the 15% requirement for parties which are not represented in any of the legislatures.

The IEC earlier on Monday had chided political parties complaining about the signature threshold and submission timeframe. It said that all independent candidates and political parties who intend to contest in the elections must submit their nomination requirements by 8 March.

‘Continue to work on’

Jardine launched Change Starts Now on 10 December last year, in Riverlea, Johannesburg. Many residents of the crime-ridden community were unconvinced of Jardine’s presidential bid, questioning the timing of the party’s launch.

The party’s leadership comprised some familiar faces, including veteran activist and former Maverick Citizen editor Mark Heywood, former Helen Suzman Foundation director Nicole Fritz, the Progressive Health Forum’s Dr Aslam Dasoo, and former UDF leader and Thabo Mbeki speechwriter Murphy Morobe.

“Change Starts Now (CSN) was launched in December 2023, recognising a desperate national crisis. We understood then what our research has since shown us: South Africans are demanding political change, and their expectations and demands for a political alternative are not being met,” Jardine said on Thursday.

“Ours and independent research tells us that only 41% of voters want to vote for the African National Congress (ANC). However, South Africa’s dilemma is that not enough voters see current opposition parties as an acceptable alternative.”

Jardine said that in the nearly three months since Change Starts Now’s launch, it had “established a significant national following and launched our Change Charter – a manifesto for hope – widely acknowledged as a pragmatic vision for how we kickstart our economy and drive inclusive development and social solidarity”.

He said that while the party’s research and engagements with South Africans had shown people are “abandoning the ANC, a lot of political work is needed to unite South Africans behind a shared vision for the future of our country”.

Jardine concluded that “CSN will continue to work on, champion and advocate for the ideas in our Change Charter”. DM

Comments (10)

Nick Griffon Mar 1, 2024, 08:28 AM

Let's be honest. Only his friends would have voted for him anyhow. His ideas of increased taxes was just delusional.

johnbpatson Mar 1, 2024, 08:47 AM

So much for democracy. It should be for the voters to decide if they like a party, not the judges. If the country thinks having too many political parties is a problem, change to a first past the post system -- the Monster Raving Loony Party in the UK has contested every general election for years without getting a seat -- although it has come third a few times...

gdrayjones@outlook.com Mar 1, 2024, 08:59 AM

I think that the biggest shock to the ANC, is that the MK has won a bi-election in the Secunda area, which is not KZN and had 51% of the Poll. Wow!! ANC

andrew.farrer Mar 1, 2024, 02:33 PM

problem 's for all of us. votes to mk, eff(luent), pa,al-jammy etc are all votes for corruption, looting and zero governance

andrew.farrer Mar 1, 2024, 02:40 PM

We need to bring in ranked choice voting to thin the herd of these pop-ups. If you cant get enough votes to win a seat, bye-bye, and your votes go to the voters second choice . . The last thing we need is abillion parties with the resultant fuck up like, for example, Israel has

Alan Watkins Mar 2, 2024, 09:46 AM

The problem is that the ANC is bad, shockingly criminally bad, and everyone knows that. And MK is the worst of the worst from the bad, shockingly criminally bad party,....and everybody knows that too..

Hilary Morris Mar 1, 2024, 09:17 AM

A case of ego over common sense? All these small start up wannabes should get behind established parties and do what they claim to want - i.e. make a difference. We do not need more parties, we need more hands on deck to get rid of ANC. Hopefully another dozen or so will follow suit and fold.

Alan Watkins Mar 2, 2024, 09:54 AM

I read there were 300 parties wanting to contest for votes in thsi election, and there are maybe 20 to 30, or not many more than that, currently represented in the various parliaments. Even if we get 3 times the number of parties meeting teh requirements and contesting, that makes maybe 90. Of the 90, 40 to 50 can be expected to get zero seats and will fade away, following the more than 200 that fall away before the elections. The one good thing you say about Change Starts Now is that they were smart enough to make a realistic and fast assessment of being able to contest, and have pulled out smartly. Hundreds of other rats and mice will wail, whinge and whine, rend their hair, and gnash their teeth right up to and after 29 May, and then quickly fade away.

Philip Machanick Mar 1, 2024, 09:35 AM

What’s with the snarky headline and comments? They gave it a good go and were realistic enough to bow out, rather than go in half-baked, possibly not contesting enough provinces to make an impact. On the “Why not support DA?” questions… The simplest critique of the ANC is they had 30 years. Well, so did the DA (if you include their progenitor, the DP). In 2014, for the first time, “Didn’t vote”, was the largest bloc of voters. This is as much an indictment of the opposition as of the ANC. We need something fresh – but at least one thing this monster signature requirement has done is thin the field. While I feel for those who supported CSN, at least what we can be sure of is that those left in the game have mobilisation capacity. That actually matters more than e.g. monster rallies, as your ground game can be a decider in elections. Last election, EFF pretty much matched ANC for rallies, yet got less than a fifth of their vote. So let’s see who’s left and keep an open mind on alternatives.

mutahi.wachira Mar 1, 2024, 03:36 PM

As someone born in the mid-90s who doesn't remember the first few elections, it was crazy to me to learn that anybody thought the National Party would ever be a viable opposition. The Democratic Party was a much needed alternative to the NP and IFP as main opposition. But if we followed the modern DA logic, we would argue in the 1999 election that voting for the DP was a waste of time because they were a 1% party, and that we should spend time trying to convince South Africans to vote for (literally) the National Party. From the legacy of Helen Suzman's single seat, to trying to bully rather than persuade anti-ANC voters to fall in line. The DA needs to reflect deeply on what liberal democracy actually means.

Stephen Mcbride Mar 2, 2024, 11:13 AM

Agree with Philip Machanick. The "join an establish party" have never tried to join an established party to try and change it. It has its own constitution and inbred set of morals that is supported by the hierarchy. You can argue but as your premises is different to theirs (and as they are in the majority) the will vote and talk you down. Points of order and the power of the seat. So to start your own party with like minded people the only way. But the problem is money to get your message across so that all like minded people support you. Newspaper reporting so bad that they do not properly report on any party. All done from the bias of the reporter and not enough facts given. And for those who think that "the rich" will not pay extra. Not always true. They will if there is a return from it. If they see that the short term increase in payment will lead to an end to corruption and a long term reduction in tax the will pay. You will pay to have inverter installed as it reduces your electrical bill. You will pay to extra to have railway going to your factory as it will decrease your transport bill. But they will need to see that it has benefits for them it must not go into Social Welfare or politician pockets or employing more people to do nothing.

Geoff Coles Mar 1, 2024, 09:52 AM

A significant national following....that I doubt. Anyway, bye!

Fernando Moreira Mar 1, 2024, 09:54 AM

Classic , too much blah,blah and big ego to boot , like many others ,vanity projects disguised as vision for a country in distress ! Just vote DA there is a future at stake !! Look at whats hapening in Ekurhuleni its a frightening movie of wht the future could hold for South Africa!!!

Middle aged Mike Mar 1, 2024, 10:38 AM

Reeks of a vanity project. Good riddance.

Rob Alexander Mar 1, 2024, 11:12 AM

The last thing needed is an increase in taxes to fix the ANC's mess We need to fix corruption. Prosecute and jail the corruptors and their corruptees FIRST. A few orange overalls will have a salutary effect.

Middle aged Mike Mar 1, 2024, 11:46 AM

I suspect that Jardine is way too close to the perps in charge for that to even be a consideration.

Johan Buys Mar 1, 2024, 12:52 PM

It really is past due for like-minded opposition to consolidate in one party or one legally binding alliance. If Johnny the representative for Acme Party in Oudtshoorn falls for a promise of deputy assistant speaker if he votes for different alliance than Acme are committed to, then Johnny is dismissed on the spot and replaced with another Acme representative. Same for Parliament as for councils and provinces.

DM is much better if you are signed in...

South Africa

‘Continue to work on’

Comments (10)