The ANC retains its determination to rule yet lacks the capacity to do so effectively. The only way out of the dilemma is its defeat in an election.
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South Africans are led by a dithering president at the helm of an inept political party which has already passed its sell by date.
This history covers twelve decades, from the surrender of Boer guerrillas in the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1902 to the July 2021 looting spree and violence.
The 2021 local government elections signals widespread disillusionment with representative democracy that only a sea change in service delivery can fix.
The democratic transition in 1994 was the result of an ‘elite pact’ that changed the country’s politics, but did little to undermine the foundations of white economic power.
The problem in municipalities is not that the wrong people are being chosen. It is that the wrong people are doing the choosing – not only of candidates but of what they do if elected.
Ramaphosa will be eager to communicate his position that no one should be above scrutiny and that all parts of society,should be examined by the Commission.
Leon mulls over the Democratic Alliance’s biggest challenge: ‘how to maintain its majority support among minorities, and increase its meagre voter share among the black majority’.
Professionalism has to start with ministers for it to stand any chance of being embedded throughout the public service.
The election of Port Elizabeth’s first black mayor in 1995 signalled that the democratic change that had started in 1994 was irreversible. But problems lay ahead.
South Africa suffers capability deficiencies and institutional stasis due to poor political management.
President Ramaphosa’s state of the nation speech showed his preference for less contentious matters that attract praise, rather than catalytic decisions.
In South Africa, state corruption has taken hold with utter disregard for ethics and democratic norms in a cynical exploitation of the post-apartheid transformation agenda.
The precedent-setting ruling may cause jitters in dysfunctional municipalities around the country.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has to ensure that reform of critical institutions is placed first. Everything else will be compromised if this fails.
The black middle class are angry at their exclusion from mainstream economic activity.
South Africa’s dysfuctional municipalities are characterised by very poor, or no delivery, of basic services such as refuse collection.
South Africa’s local governments lack a clear separation of legislative and executive powers.
Nearly a third of South Africa’s municipalities are not financially viable.
Democracy in South Africa is meaningless if it doesn’t improve the lives of the people. To do this, the governing ANC must be led by conscientious, competent and interested leaders.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Johannesburg
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Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape
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Head: Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand
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Extraordinary Senior Lecturer at the School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University
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Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand
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Associate Professor in Public Law, 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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Associate Professor, Centre for the Advancement of Non-Racialism and Democracy (CANRAD), Nelson Mandela University
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Executive director, Africa Institute of South Africa, Human Sciences Research Council
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Professor of Urban Governance, University of the Witwatersrand
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Professor of Political Studies, University of Johannesburg
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Senior Research Fellow, Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study, University of Johannesburg
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Professor of Law, University of the Witwatersrand
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Acting Director: Institute for Pan-African Thought & Conversation, University of Johannesburg
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Senior Lecturer, Department of Political and International Studies, Rhodes University
