ANC may finish what apartheid started
- William Gumede
South Africa is now at the tipping point of ethnic, colour fragmentation, tribalisation and Balkanisation.
The current fracturing of South Africa’s diverse communities is not a foreign conspiracy, engineered by Western powers. Blaming ‘other’ colour or ethnic groups for the country’s colour and ethnic fragmentation is also misguided.
The African National Congress governing the state narrowly for the party and its members only, from deploying its handpicked cadres to the state through cadre deployment to black economic empowerment (BEE) in public procurement reserved for its politically connected, has resulted in the increasing fracturing of South Africa, with different ethnic and colour groups, seeking safety in their ‘own’ community laagers to secure their interests.
Sadly, ANC leaders have increasingly made governing decisions and adopting policies, which are solely in the party and their leaders’ interests, and not in the wider interests of all of South Africa. And they have excluded vast numbers of South African talent, capacity and energies from state opportunities and dismissing their policy input and ideas.
The marginalisation of non-ANC supporting groups, their ideas and their energies, has brought this crisis of the country risking spiralling into racial fragmentation, tribalisation, and Balkanisation.
The combination of state failure, caused by the corruption, incompetence and lack of care by the small ANC governing elite, who have been continuously recycled from government department, Cabinet position and BEE tender to another; and the exclusion of non-ANC ideas, talent and energy, has driven communities feeling marginalised to form ‘ethnic’ parties or their own institutions to deliver public services, such as higher education institutions or to emigrate.
As the ANC fails in government and losing its voter support, many ANC leaders, have cynically blamed apartheid and colonialism for problems which have been specifically caused by the ANC’s failures in government. Many ANC leaders and populist leaders from ANC spinoffs, such as the Economic Freedom Fighters and Umkhonto weSizwe parties, have weaponised the justified anger by previously disadvantaged communities over continued apartheid and colonial disparities, deliberately inflame apartheid-era originated current ethnic divisions, and also blaming self-inflicted failures by the ANC state, on apartheid and colonialism also.
The legacies of apartheid and colonialism obviously are still crippling the opportunities of many previously disadvantaged communities. However, the ANC in control of the state for 32-years, through its mixed record of state failure, corruption, incompetence, and lack of care, while enriching a small, connected ANC elite, has further compounded the suffering of previously disadvantaged communities who were still bearing the brunt of the legacies of apartheid and colonialism.
South Africa’s Government of National Unity is an ideal nation-building national governing structure, as it brings together political groups of all races, colours, and ideologies to co-govern the country. The GNU’s potential lies in that it can marshal different parties, groups, and communities to work together across ethnicity, colour, and ideology, to find a pragmatic middle or centrist ground.
If the GNU had worked properly, it could marshal different parties and groups to assemble the widest number of talents, ideas, energy and resources, from all ethnic groups, colours and ideologies in the country, to tackle the country’s complex challenges.
However, the ANC’s stubborn insistence that it is still the sole governing party in the GNU, rather than co-governing with its diverse partners, apparently seeing partners as only add-ons, undermines the nation-building potential of the GNU.
The Madlanga and Zondo Commissions have publicly laid bare the corruption at the heart of the ANC state. This has undermined the credibility of the ANC. It has also undermined the ANC’s credibility to advance its party-centric policies, whether these are good, progressive or advancing ‘transformation’. It has also discredited the ANC as an honest broker for inclusive nation-building.
Yet, ANC leaders are pushing through ANC-only conceived ‘transformation’ or ‘progressive’ policies, when the party, because of corruption, incompetence and the marginalisation of non-ANC groups, are being perceived by many non-ANC citizens as only interested in serving its own party, leaders, and patronage agendas.
Because ANC leaders do not consult with non-ANC individuals, groups, and communities, they are increasingly talking to themselves in ever increasing narrower echo chambers of only their ‘own’ connected party leaders, cadres, and apparatchiks, wrongly believing that this echo chamber represent the voices of all of South Africa.
ANC leaders, government officials and apparatchiks mistaken belief the ANC is still seen as the unifying rather than the dividing force of South Africa’s diverse communities. This despite the fact that many South Africans, feeling marginalised based on race, colour and ideology, are now seeking safety in their own community laagers or abroad, from the ANC’s corruption, incompetence, self-enrichment and marginalisation of them, and other non-ANC voters.
Under these circumstances, ANC generated ‘good’, ‘progressive’ or ‘transformative’ policies are likely to all end in a dead-end, causing more divisions, more alienating of non-ANC groups and communities, and more fracturing, more Balkanisation and more tribalisation of South Africa as fearful, marginalised non-ANC groups seek refuge in their ‘own’ ethic, racial or colour groups.
Transformation can only happen if it is done inclusively, by making transformation policies that are in the interest of all South Africa, that it is co-formulated by the widest numbers of South Africans of all races, political ideologies, and talents.
‘Transformation,’ ‘progressive’ policies can only secure buy-in from all of South Africa, if ANC leaders who devise it are not corrupt, incompetent, and marginalising the views of non-traditional ANC members, supporters, and voters. ‘Transformation’ or ‘progressive’ policies devised and implemented by a small elite group of ANC leaders or ANC state deployed cadres, who dismiss the opinions, input and energy of everyone else, will not be widely embraced by non-ANC groups, no matter how supposedly well-intended these purported to be. It will only lead to further fracturing, tribalisation, and Balkanisation of South Africa.
To prevent South Africa from further sliding into racial, ethnic and communal fragmentation, the ANC must make all decisions, policies and state appointments and contracts in the interests of all South Africa, not the interests of the ANC party, ANC government apparatchiks, and patronage beneficiaries.
The ANC must accept it’s not the majority party anymore and must make decisions collectively with its partners in the GNU and not push its party decisions and policies through or appoint only its cadres to key positions in the state. The ANC must also canvassed ideas, policies and state appointments more broadly, beyond the narrow elite of ANC leaders, connected apparatchiks and loyalists, to secure buy-in for its policies, no matter how good, progressive, or transformative these policies may be in the eyes of ANC leaders, members, or supporters.
If the party continues on its current path of only involving its own loyalists in decision-making, policy-making and appointments – and marginalising all other communities, South Africa will see an accelerating of the fragmentation and Balkanisation of South Africa, as groups marginalised by the ANC seek refuge in their own groups or leave the country, take their skills, their capital and their energy with them.
William Gumede is Associate Professor, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand and author of the bestselling Restless Nation: Making Sense of Troubled Times (Tafelberg).