South Africa has reached a critical point. If patronage politicians win the battle within the ruling ANC and complete the capture of the state, the country will slip from stagnation into the abyss.
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Articles on Political patronage
Displaying 41 - 47 of 47 articles
MK, the army of the then banned ANC, electrified millions of oppressed people to rise against the apartheid regime. Today, its veterans are being used in factional battles within the ruling party.
South Africa’s watershed local elections have resulted in upsets for the ANC in key metropoles. But will the new, minority coalition regimes live up to their mandate of providing basic services?
Some of the factors behind the riots by ANC supporters in Tshwane are not new. They include gripes within the governing party about its process for choosing mayors and divisions over Jacob Zuma.
Lobbying political actors to achieve particular outcomes is an acceptable practice in a democracy. But state capture, as is allegedly happening in South Africa, denotes holding the state to ransom.
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.
South Africa’s governing ANC has to respond to public outcry about state capture or run the risk of electoral losses.
Top contributors
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Professor of Political Studies, University of Johannesburg
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Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape
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Professor of Public Affairs, Tshwane University of Technology
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Visiting Professor and Professor Emeritus, University of the Witwatersrand
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Professor in Political Science, University of South Africa
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Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Johannesburg
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Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, University of Johannesburg
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Professor of Democracy, University of Birmingham
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Associate Professor, Stellenbosch University
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Associate Professor, UCT School of Economics; South African Reserve Bank Research Chair in Financial Stability Studies, University of Cape Town
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Founding Director of Program on Intrastate Conflict, Harvard Kennedy School
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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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Senior Research Specialist, Innovations for Successful Societies, Princeton University
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Lecturer, Nelson Mandela University
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Director of the Leaders of Africa Institute and Research Affiliate with Davidson College, Davidson College
