It’s the latest drama in the history of the rainbow nation, but the arrival of the as yet unnamed and breakaway party out of the ashes of Thabo Mbeki’s ousting from power has prompted murmurs of unease within South Africa and elsewhere. The ANC, always an uneasy alliance of communists, trade union activists and anti-apartheid fighters has worked hard to maintain its internal unity and indeed dominance in Africa’s strongest democracy, yet the cracks have always been evident. The tensions between the forces of the left such as COSATU, Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party, and the market oriented wings of the ANC, embodied by former president Thabo Mbeki, have coalesced around the neo-liberal route to development and economic prosperity the country has followed since its ‘independence’ in 1994. It is anger over the fact, that despite ten years or more of ANC government, unemployment amongst black South Africans remains at 40% while corporations and a few individuals have grown rich that powered the vote against Mbeki’s chairmanship of the ANC and secured the role for the controversial populist politician, Jacob Zuma. The high profile battle inside and outside of the courts to convict Zuma on charges of corruption is what finally brought down Mbeki and triggered the political split now consuming the ANC. Mosiuoa Lekota, a former defence minister officially broke with the ANC and called a convention of like-minded south Africans. The split, according to the BBC is primarily over three things, ideological differences over economic policies, with the breakaway faction leaning to the right and in support of Thabo Mbeki’s policies, a clash of personalities, and more darkly, tribal divisions. The last reason is perhaps the one to be feared the most, that South Africa’s politics will increasingly become like that of the rich tapestry of basket cases to its north, spelling an end to the ‘miracle’ that has bedazzled the world for ten years.
There are some reasons why this is unlikely to happen, not least the existence of a civil society that is more vibrant than most, and the existence of the Inkatha Zulu party which is unlikely to welcome any encroachment of its political terrain. Yet there is enough popular anger in South Africa as we saw in the recent xenophobic riots to force South Africans to seek an alternative to the neo-liberal model that has dominated the country’s politics over the past ten years. Though the new party is yet to formulate any policies and is unlikely to stray too far away from Thabo Mbeki’s neo-liberal ones, its existence should be welcomed. Not least because its success would represent a mature turn for South Africa’s democracy; currently the ANC carries 70% of the national vote. It’s likely that this is less to do with South Africans great love for the ANC, though no doubt this does play a part, but more to do with the lack of viable alternatives. A new party, led primarily by leaders with an anti-apartheid and ANC pedigree would do much to enrich debate in South Africa; it would also guard against the apathy and corruption that seem to have become a sub-culture with the ANC.
The current electoral system in the country would also come under increasing pressure for reform, if a mass movement of black South Africans could be gathered behind the new party, to make it more representative. Currently, MPs are picked by party lists rather than directly elected by their constituents – a system stacked in favour of the ruling party and more relevant to a revolutionary outfit than a modern democratic nation. Lastly, as black South Africans in particular become differentiated by income, the existence of a party of the neo-liberal right might be good for the ANC, allowing it to focus and position itself as what it was always aimed to be, a party of the people.
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