The ANC has delivered somewhat on its elections promises since 1994, but it might not be enough to convince voters to give it another chance in the next elections, writes Ryland Fisher
In its 1994 election manifesto, the African National Congress, which had just moved from being a liberation movement to a reluctant political party, promised to provide “a better life for all”.
The party stated:
“To build a better life for all requires clear goals and a workable plan. Any solution to the crisis of apartheid needs an approach which rises above narrow interests and harnesses all our country`s resources. It requires:
· a democratic society based on equality, non-racialism and non-sexism;
· a nation built by developing our different cultures, beliefs and languages as a source of our common strength;
· an economy which grows through providing jobs, housing and education;
· a peaceful and secure environment in which people can live without fear.”
The promise of a better life for all had its roots in the Freedom Charter, the document drawn up at the Congress of the People in June 1955, which had been the driving force behind the liberation struggle over the years. The Charter states in its introduction that “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people”. Among its declarations are that “the people shall govern”, “all national groups shall have equal rights”, “the people shall share in the country’s wealth”, “the land shall be shared among those who work it”, “all shall be equal before the law”, “all shall enjoy equal human rights”, “there shall be work and security”, “the doors of learning and culture shall be opened”, “there shall be houses, security and comfort” and “there shall be peace and friendship”.
It is therefore not surprising that South Africa’s Constitution, which has been lauded throughout the world, draws heavily on the Freedom Charter, which, its Bill of Rights, talks about affirming dignity, equality and freedom and its preamble, it states that it “believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity”.
It is therefore, also not surprising that the ANC drew on the Freedom Charter when drawing up its manifesto to guide it in its first election our post-apartheid democracy.
Despite all its good intentions, this promise of a better life might have been the ANC’s undoing over the past 30 in which it has governed South Africa, all but one of its provinces and most of its municipalities.
You cannot ever improve the lives of all South Africans. In order to improve the lives of some, it would require taking from others. For the past 30 years, the ANC has been performing a fine balancing act between giving and taking – and I am not talking about corruption here, which is a whole book by itself.
I am talking about legitimately taking from an increasingly reluctant taxpayer base to improve the lives of an impatient majority who expected more, in the form of housing, education and, importantly, jobs, and, more recently, social grants.
Depending on who you speak with on the political spectrum you will find parties telling you that the ANC has not delivered in the past 30 years. Very few outside of ANC loyalists will argue that the party has delivered.
I am not one of those who support the notion that live was better under apartheid. It was a vile, oppressive system which made victims of all of us, the victims and the perpetrators. It was meant to benefit the few at the expense of the many.
The ANC, as political analyst Dr Oscar van Heerden pointed out at the recent launch of his new book, Is the Party Over?, has delivered a better life for some, despite a host of challenges, many of its own making.
If one made an analysis of the various Presidents since democracy, one can see that each one, bar one, has delivered on what was seen as their major objective. Nelson Mandela was seen as the reconciler and he made sure that he brought South Africans from different racial and cultures backgrounds together. Thabo Mbeki was seen as Mr Delivery, and it is no coincidence that the ANC won the highest percentage of votes under Mbeki. People can often not see reconciliation, but they can see the electrification of their homes, having access to fresh water, decent schooling and health service, even though these remain imperfect to this day. Kgalema Motlanthe’s had an eight-month stint as a caretaker, so he doesn’t count. Jacob Zuma was the one who undid a lot of the good work done under Mandela and Mbeki, from a reconciliation and economic perspective. Cyril Ramaphosa has had the unenviable job of cleaning up Zuma’s mess, reviving the economy and increasing employment prospects, especially for young people, while trying to pull a recalcitrant ANC leadership along with him on his journey of renewal.
In fact, Zuma has continued where he left off when Ramaphosa replaced him as President of South Africa in 2018, a few months after replacing him as president of the ANC. Zuma came to power in the ANC and, subsequently, in government on the back of Zulu nationalism (in reality tribalism) in 2007. He has now used the same tactics to boost the electoral fortunes of the uMkhonto weSizwe political party, of which he is the presidential candidate.
At his book launch at Exclusive Books at Cavendish Square in Claremont, Dr van Heerden shared an anecdote about the ANC’s 2007 elective conference when he asked two comrades why they were not joining the commissions discussing ANC policy. Brandishing a political of expensive champagne and cigars, they told him that they were not there to discuss policy. They were only there to vote for Zuma.
Zuma’s term as ANC and South African President marked the beginning of a feast of corruption, which eventually resulted in the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, led by then Deputy Chief Justice, Raymond Zondo.
Van Heerden believes that President Ramaphosa is on the right track with undoing the damage done by Zuma.
“He has replaced incompetent people who were put in charge of key state institutions with the sole purposes of capturing them, and he has replaced them with competent people,” said van Heerden. He mentioned the National Prosecuting Authority (where Shamilla Batoyi replaced Shaun Abrahams as the National Director of Public Prosecutions) and the South African Revenue Services (where Edward Kieswetter replaced Tom Moyane as Commissioner) as among those institutions which were now in safe, capable hands.
One of the areas where Ramaphosa has struggled was with the performance of state-owned entities, where particularly Eskom and Prasa have underperformed since been hugely looted under Zuma’s watch. There are positive signs, however, that we might be getting on top of the performance of these two SOEs, that the trains might be running regularly and on time soon, and that loadshedding might no longer be as severe as what South Africans have been used to for the past few years.
A major boost to Ramaphosa’s efforts has come from stalwarts and veterans of the ANC, many of who remember the glorious days of Africa’s oldest political organisation.
These include former President Mbeki, who indicated recently that he would vote for the ANC despite his earlier criticism, as well as the work done behind the scenes by the ANC Veterans’ League, whose deputy president, Mavuso Msimang, recently resigned and un-resigned in quick succession to highlight some problems in the ANC that he has now being promised will be addressed.
What has also been helpful to Ramaphosa has been the push from outside, by non-governmental organisations wanting to see the “better life” that the ANC has promised. Another clear sign that things are changing within the governing party is the recent resignation by the Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, to deal with corruption allegations against her. This is something that would not have happened not too long ago.
Will the changes be enough to convince voters to give the ANC a fresh mandate after the national and provincial elections on 29 May or, like Van Heerden asks in his book title, is the party over for the movement that brought South Africa the freedom we are enjoying today?
(First published in the Empowerment magazine, inserted into the Sunday Times on 28 April 2024)
