The African Transformation Movement (ATM) and the National Coloured Congress (NCC) on Monday said that the number of seats they obtained in the election was not what they had hoped for.
The ATM had hoped to double its two seats in the National Assembly while the NCC wanted three seats.
Instead, the ATM secured the same two seats as in the previous term of Parliament while the new kid on the block, NCC, managed one seat each in the National Assembly and the Western Cape legislature.
NCC leader Fadiel Adams said his party did well with a limited budget, contesting without T-shirts and food parcels like other parties.
“We did well and it is testimony to our hard work. The people we assisted over the years came out in numbers to vote for us,” Adams said.
He said his party would push for the interests of the coloured community and also take up the issues of crime, corruption, housing, unemployment and lack of opportunities for his constituency.
“We promise our voters that we will never betray their trust in us,” he said.
Adams said they would not enter into any coalition negotiations.
“We have decided not to enter into any coalition. We can do our best as the opposition.
“I don’t have an ambition of being a minister,” he said.
ATM spokesperson Zama Ntshona said his party had hoped to double its seats at the very least, but things didn’t go well.
He blamed the poor performance on the number of irregularities in the capturing of votes.
“We sent over 200 cases of discrepancies when it comes to voter capturing and asked through a lawyer’s letter that the IEC must not release the results. The IEC ignored that and continued with the announcements,” Ntshona said.
He listed instances of irregularities, saying they were prevalent in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng.
“Some would say the objections are insignificant, but remember that there are 24 000 voting stations. If you were to take one vote from each voting station, that is 240 000 votes.
Those can be seats that are minimal to five. This thing is not insignificant, it is a serious issue,” he said.
“That is why we as the ATM are going to the Electoral Court,” Ntshona said.
He said his party would in the new Parliament be consistent in pursuing accountability to the fullest.
“We will ensure that the programme of government prioritises the people of South Africa. Service delivery must be proper and we will push for the end of load shedding and water shedding.”
Ntshona also said now that the election results were out, his party was ready to enter into coalition talks.
“We are open to anyone who wishes to talk to us. We are open to be lobbied and ready to lobby anyone but they must know South African citizens come first.”
He was hopeful that a new coalition or minority government would be formed within the stipulated 14 days after the declaration of the election results by the IEC to avoid re-elections.
Cape Times