Long-time activist and independent candidate Zakky Ahmat (Chelsea Ogilvie/News24)
- Longtime activist and independent candidate Zakky Ahmat concluded that his chances of winning a seat were slim.
- By 7:15 p.m., Ahmat had received just 7,326 votes, or 0.48 percent support, well short of the 45,000 votes needed to win a seat.
- Everything you need to know about the 2024 general election on News24 Election Hub.
Longtime activist and independent candidate Zakky Ahmat said he was unlikely to be elected to parliament.
“The numbers are not good,” Ahmat told News24.
By 7.15pm, Ahmat had received just 7,326 votes, equivalent to 0.48% of regional support.
The threshold for winning one seat is about 45,000 votes.
Ahmat launched a campaign to secure a seat in parliament last year. He has collected more than 15,000 signatures.
He is the only independent candidate contesting a National Assembly seat in the Western Cape.
“That's unlikely to happen, but I'm pleased the DA has managed to retain control of the state.” [the Western Cape] Because can you imagine a coalition between MK and the EFF?,” he said.
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Ahmat said that, nationally, forming a coalition government with the EFF and MK parties would be a tragedy for the country.
Ahmat has been an activist for more than 20 years. In 1998, at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and amid former President Thabo Mbeki's controversial AIDS denialism, he publicly announced his HIV positive status and said he would not take antiretroviral drugs until they were available to everyone who needed them.
“For me, the pain, even more than MK, is seeing the rise of the Patriotic Union, a coloured nationalism that divides Africans and coloured peoples and also ignores xenophobia,” he said.
Ahmat said broad-based cooperation within society was needed to counter reactionary forces and anti-constitutionalism.
He said he would continue to work with activists.
“For me, the most important work is the activist forum that I built during the election and that will continue whether I am elected or not. We also have to work to change the rules of parliament so that corrupt people and politicians cannot get away with it,” he said.