Pretoria - After a long and torturous 24 hours, the National People's Ambassadors (NPA) finally broke through the 1 000 vote barrier late on Thursday night although the party was still rock bottom of the 48 parties who contested the 2019 national elections.
By 10pm, the NPA had garnered 1 001 out of the more than ten million votes tallied, for 0,01% support. Political parties need around 35 000 votes to qualify for a seat in Parliament.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) charges a deposit of R200 000 to parties wishing to contest elections on a national level, with parties able to recover their monies if they win a seat in the National Assembly.
The NPA, formed in 2015, is described on Wikipedia as a "radical, left, anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movement with an internationalist outlook”.
It has stated its intentions of wanting to nationalise mines and banks and in 2016, general secretary Andile Hlatshwayo made headlines when he laid charges of high treason against the Economic Freedom Fighters's Julius Malema.
The NPA - not be confused with the National Prosecuting Authority - was not alone in waging a losing battle for the votes of South Africans, with the likes of the PRM, SAMEBA, PAU and FREE DEMS all polling less than 2 000 votes nationally by late Thursday night.