The brouhaha over South Africa’s upcoming high-stakes municipal elections hides critically important questions about the continued relevance of local government amid growing public disaffection.
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Articles on African National Congress (ANC)
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It is exactly forty years since the Soweto uprising in June 1976 where the South African police met the students with brutal force. How much has changed in terms of policing?
A new generation of angry young South Africans seem to have forgotten what made the liberation struggle work.
Fifty years ago US Senator Robert F Kennedy visited South Africa. A new documentary about RFK’s visit puts the spotlight on an important part of the country’s history.
Understandable anger about the excessive inequality in South Africa lies at the heart of the rise of the radical Economic Freedom Fighters. The problem is how the party wants to address these issues.
A key question ahead of local government elections in South Africa is whether the African National Congress will retain control of seven of the country’s eight metropolitan municipalities.
Seemingly poles apart, Donald Trump and Jacob Zuma have something in common: they are both prominent patriarchs with populist support. And they both count women among their staunch supporters.
Once two of the African continent’s most optimistic countries, Zambia and South Africa have sunk to new lows.
South African labour unions have shown themselves to be effective in translating the prescripts of the law into benefits for their members. This is particularly true in the public sector.
South Africa’s transition to democracy was based on the values of inclusive politics, reconciliation, human rights and constitutionalism. Twenty-two years on, how has the country fared?
As South Africa celebrates 22 years since the end of apartheid this month, a new survey by Afrobarometer suggests the country still has a long way to go in fulfilling the promises of freedom.
If the governing ANC ignores the calls for Zuma’s resignation,it may undermine South Africa’s leadership on the continent. It creates the idea that he can undermine the constitution with impunity.
Democracy resulted in a sea change in the governing ANC. In the past, only highly committed idealists joined the party. Today’s splits and factions are about patronage and clientelism.
Ironically, the only feasible way of removing President Zuma lies outside the prescribed formal structures of the constitutional processes – at the head office of the governing ANC.
For the time being at least, South African President Jacob Zuma is not ready to relinquish power. But perhaps sooner rather than later he may have to face the inevitable.
South Africa’s governing ANC has to respond to public outcry about state capture or run the risk of electoral losses.
Critics say that Thabo Mbeki’s character matters less than his AIDS denialism. But these things are actually intimately linked.
South Africans spend billions of rands paying for services that should be provided by government, thus making the tax burden considerably higher than what appears in official tax data.
South Africans’ faith in the post-apartheid system of democracy is clearly slipping - and some even suggest that a return to apartheid would be a good thing.
With South African local government elections coming up later in 2016, Jacob Zuma and his governing ANC must ensure that citizens still look to them as a party of hope.
Top contributors
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Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape
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Professor of Political Studies, University of Johannesburg
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Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand
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Professor of Public Affairs, Tshwane University of Technology
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Professor in Political Science, University of South Africa
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Professor of Urban Governance, University of the Witwatersrand
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Visiting Professor at the Business School, University of the Witwatersrand
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Professor of World Politics, SOAS, University of London
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Emeritus Associate Professor in Public Law, University of Cape Town
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Visiting Professor and Professor Emeritus, University of the Witwatersrand
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Associate professor, University of Cape Town
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Post Doctoral Researcher, Graduate School of Business (GSB), University of Cape Town
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Chief Research Specialist in Democracy and Citizenship at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State
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Research Fellow New South Institute, Emeritus Professor at The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town
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Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria
