ANC party dominance hurts South Africa, say experts
Thématique :
sud afrique
By Sebastien Berger in Johannesburg - 07 Oct 2008
The prospect of a split in the ruling ANC has intensified debate over the dominance of the party in the country's politics.
After Desmond Tutu, the Nobel laureate and Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, said at the weekend that he could no longer vote for the party and the country would benefit from more competitive politics, leading commentors said that South Africa has suffered as a result of the ANC's electoral dominance.
Since the sacking of Thabo Mbeki as national president by allies of Jacob Zuma, the new ANC leader, speculation has been rife that some of his supporters will break away from the party which has ruled South Africa since the end of apartheid 14 years ago. An announcement could come as early as this week.
The ANC's huge electoral support has given South Africa characteristics of a one-party state and at the weekend Archbishop Tutu said it needed a "viable opposition", adding: "Democracy flourishes where there is vigorous debate and people are actually careful of what they do." He added: "I am hurting for a country I love deeply and I am trying to do what I can. This is a cry from the heart."
The ANC's emphasis on unity, one of the legacies of the struggle, means that debate on policy is carried out behind closed doors, before all involved emerge to proclaim adherence to the concensus. As a result the normal political contest of ideas between groups that could plausibly form the next government is lacking.
Dianna Games, director of the consultancy Africa@Work, said: "One-party states, as we have seen in many countries that have had that, de facto or de jure, it has not worked for the economy, it all becomes about political expediency and elitism.
"Multi-party politics has greater accountability attached to it. One party states, whether through fear or support, they should really be working in the interests of the people but history proves that isn't the case."
Anthony Butler, professor of public policy at the University of Cape Town, warned that an ANC split could lead to growing tribalism in the country.
There has been resentment at Xhosa domination of the ANC in some quarters, and for some Mr Zuma's identity as a Zulu is part of his appeal, but many of his senior allies are from other ethnic groups from across the rainbow nation.
Writing in the respected Business Day newspaper, Prof Butler said the "unified and coherent ANC" had so far ensured "relative political stability".
"The threat that ANC fragmentation poses is that it could institutionalise and entrench what might otherwise be passing ethnic tensions," he said.
The two parties could end up with their support concentrated in different parts of the country. "The danger this presents is that the New and the Old ANC each would possess a regional home that gave it an unmistakable ethnic character.
"Antitribalism has been one of the most important attributes of the liberation movement since its formation, and it cannot be safely abandoned today."
Tim Cohen, a commentator for the newspaper Business Day, said: "The natural split between conservatives and democrats and whatever is really a sub-branch of politics, not the core of it.
"For all this talk of Mbeki being pro-business labour policy is circa the Labour party of the late 70s or early 80s. It's very difficult to hire and fire in South Africa and that's a consequence of the odd historic relationship between the ANC, the Communist party and the trade unions. Some prominent people in the ANC absolutely recognise this as an issue but they are completely unable to get it on to the party agenda."
A split, he said, could open the way to greater competition between ideas. "Theoretically it should, historically that has been what's transpired.
"Because the ANC is such a broad church it's tried to maintain its unity on an increasingly diverse support base, from people who live in basically feudal conditions on the land, a subsistence style of life, to factory workers, to Black Economic Empowerment billionaires.
"This is an increasingly wide span and the one real way they could do that was creating a kind of liberationist ideology." How much weight a dissident movement would be able to gather was open to question, he said, but added: "If there's a more competitive political system the problems will be recognised earlier and responded to faster."
The prospect of a split in the ruling ANC has intensified debate over the dominance of the party in the country's politics.
After Desmond Tutu, the Nobel laureate and Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, said at the weekend that he could no longer vote for the party and the country would benefit from more competitive politics, leading commentors said that South Africa has suffered as a result of the ANC's electoral dominance.
Since the sacking of Thabo Mbeki as national president by allies of Jacob Zuma, the new ANC leader, speculation has been rife that some of his supporters will break away from the party which has ruled South Africa since the end of apartheid 14 years ago. An announcement could come as early as this week.
The ANC's huge electoral support has given South Africa characteristics of a one-party state and at the weekend Archbishop Tutu said it needed a "viable opposition", adding: "Democracy flourishes where there is vigorous debate and people are actually careful of what they do." He added: "I am hurting for a country I love deeply and I am trying to do what I can. This is a cry from the heart."
The ANC's emphasis on unity, one of the legacies of the struggle, means that debate on policy is carried out behind closed doors, before all involved emerge to proclaim adherence to the concensus. As a result the normal political contest of ideas between groups that could plausibly form the next government is lacking.
Dianna Games, director of the consultancy Africa@Work, said: "One-party states, as we have seen in many countries that have had that, de facto or de jure, it has not worked for the economy, it all becomes about political expediency and elitism.
"Multi-party politics has greater accountability attached to it. One party states, whether through fear or support, they should really be working in the interests of the people but history proves that isn't the case."
Anthony Butler, professor of public policy at the University of Cape Town, warned that an ANC split could lead to growing tribalism in the country.
There has been resentment at Xhosa domination of the ANC in some quarters, and for some Mr Zuma's identity as a Zulu is part of his appeal, but many of his senior allies are from other ethnic groups from across the rainbow nation.
Writing in the respected Business Day newspaper, Prof Butler said the "unified and coherent ANC" had so far ensured "relative political stability".
"The threat that ANC fragmentation poses is that it could institutionalise and entrench what might otherwise be passing ethnic tensions," he said.
The two parties could end up with their support concentrated in different parts of the country. "The danger this presents is that the New and the Old ANC each would possess a regional home that gave it an unmistakable ethnic character.
"Antitribalism has been one of the most important attributes of the liberation movement since its formation, and it cannot be safely abandoned today."
Tim Cohen, a commentator for the newspaper Business Day, said: "The natural split between conservatives and democrats and whatever is really a sub-branch of politics, not the core of it.
"For all this talk of Mbeki being pro-business labour policy is circa the Labour party of the late 70s or early 80s. It's very difficult to hire and fire in South Africa and that's a consequence of the odd historic relationship between the ANC, the Communist party and the trade unions. Some prominent people in the ANC absolutely recognise this as an issue but they are completely unable to get it on to the party agenda."
A split, he said, could open the way to greater competition between ideas. "Theoretically it should, historically that has been what's transpired.
"Because the ANC is such a broad church it's tried to maintain its unity on an increasingly diverse support base, from people who live in basically feudal conditions on the land, a subsistence style of life, to factory workers, to Black Economic Empowerment billionaires.
"This is an increasingly wide span and the one real way they could do that was creating a kind of liberationist ideology." How much weight a dissident movement would be able to gather was open to question, he said, but added: "If there's a more competitive political system the problems will be recognised earlier and responded to faster."
