Exploring the Influence of Corporate Power on Electoral Democracy

A Case Study of South Africa’s 2024 Elections

Abstract

The South African general election of 2024 is a bright example of the intricate relationship between governance, corporate power, and democracy. In this paper, the author will critically analyse the increasing encroachment of big business into politics, especially through campaign finance and policy capture, and how this has compromised democratic accountability. Using a mixed-methods design that includes the analysis of secondary documents and qualitative interviews with students in the Master of Political Science, the study examines the nature of the power exerted by corporate actors and the implications of such influence in electoral politics and governance in the South African polarised political system.
The results demonstrate the relegation of substantive policy matters and grassroots forms of political action, particularly those championed by pro-people parties such as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). Conversely, parties that have prevailed in political terms, especially the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA), are depicted as highly cooperative with corporate interests, which has led to the watering down of radical ideas regarding the redistribution of land and equity in wealth. The establishment of the Government of National Unity (GNU) is also indicative of the nature of coalition politics and policy bargaining, which is more likely to satisfy the economic interests of the elite.
The rationale for the analysis is a theoretically grounded oligarchy theory by Winters and dependency theory, which explains the continuous democratic distortion in South Africa. It proposes radical campaign finance reforms, equal media attention, and institutional reinforcement by the Electoral Commission, drawing on examples of international campaign finance reforms in the Nordic countries, and contributes to debates on corporate power, governance, and democratic resilience in post-apartheid South Africa.