Prince Mashele BNC#8: South Africa has one last political option - and everything depends on it

Political scientist Prince Mashele delivers a provocative take on South Africa’s political past, present, and future. He argues the country has exhausted “white,” “black,” and fragmented coalition politics - and now faces a final choice: true joint governance. With bold, controversial proposals, he outlines a ten-point plan to rebuild institutions, restore accountability, and reignite economic growth before it’s too late..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Watch here.Listen here.Edited transcript of key note speech.Alec HoggOur next talk is a treat. It always is. Prince Mashele is a political scientist, author, and thinker. I don’t know what Prince is going to do next with his life - perhaps he’ll tell us today. But he continues to share incredible insights as we go along.What’s also interesting - and I hope he touches on it, otherwise we’ll raise it in the Q&A - is that he has written a biography of Herman Mashaba. It was a book that attracted quite a lot of controversy, as people who were unhappy with Herman saw it as an opportunity to criticise him.But if you read it, it’s beautifully written and full of fascinating insights. Helen Zille was not particularly complimentary about her opponent in the Johannesburg mayoral race, so it will be interesting to hear Prince’s perspective - although I suspect he has bigger fish to fry.Please welcome him..Prince Mashele.Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I’m testing whether you are bots or human beings. Good morning - are you human?We live in the age of AI, so you have to quickly test whether you’re speaking to a bot from Russia or a real person.Thanks, Alec. This is “Hymn to Freedom” by Oscar Peterson, one of the greatest pianists of all time. It’s my favourite piece when I want to reflect.I listen to this tune…I’m going to talk about the country I love - South Africa. I’ve been here since Tuesday, and my sense is that we have a very complicated relationship with this country. We love it and hate it at the same time.I’m not part of those who hate it. I’m part of those who love it.I’m going to talk about what I believe is the biggest problem facing South Africa: politics.Let me start this way - modern South Africa has only four possible kinds of politics. Only four. There is nothing outside of these four.We have experimented with two. We are currently busy with the third, and we are not yet done with it. That leaves only one remaining option.The first is white politics. You can trace it back as far as 1652. That phase ended in 1994.White politics did a few things. Before it, South Africa had no roads, no telephone lines, no railways - it was largely undeveloped. By 1994, it had become a modern state.Its cardinal sin, however, was excluding black people from the economic benefits of that development. That period - from 1652 to 1994 - is done.The second phase began in 1994: black politics. It ended in 2024.Black politics did two things - one very bad, and one good.The bad: it broke the backbone of public infrastructure and contributed to the collapse of the state. You can see this all around you.The good: for the first time in history, it made a serious attempt to improve race relations. Whether you like it or not, we are better in this regard than at any previous time in our history.That phase is also done.The third phase is what we are experiencing now. It began around the 2016 local government elections, when several cities started experimenting with what I call the politics of fragmentation.You see it in places like Nelson Mandela Bay, where multiple parties pull in different directions.At a national level, after the 2024 elections, this took the form of what some call a “Government of National Unity.” Those who like euphemisms use that term. Those of us who don’t call it what it is: fragmentation.The parties involved are not pulling in the same direction.That is the third phase - and we are currently living it.There is only one form of politics left. If we don’t pursue it, we are doomed.It is what I call joint politics between blacks and whites. We have never truly done this in South Africa.We may think we have - but we haven’t. And we don’t trust each other.After the Anglo-Boer War, Afrikaners and the English - who had fought brutally - realised that continued conflict was unsustainable.They reached an agreement to share political power. From 1910 onward, they effectively governed together, with Afrikaners leading despite British influence.This model of joint politics has existed before - but only among whites.Since 1994, black leadership largely excluded whites from meaningful political partnership, believing they could govern alone.Now, that attitude is fading among the broader population. Many people want a collaborative model.The problem is that leaders on both sides do not trust each other and resist working together.So what would this joint politics look like?I’ve distilled it into what I call the Prince Mashele Ten-Point Plan to Fix South Africa..1. Build an ethical, competent, and highly educated multiracial leadership team.These people exist in society - but not in government. Government has become a theatre of incompetence. We must bring capable people in and push the unfit out.2. Enforce accountability and restore law and order.Political crime must be punished decisively.This includes holding even top leaders accountable - for example, allegations around Phala Phala scandal.3. Remove cadre deployment and professionalise the public service.It is possible to suspend and replace compromised officials and rebuild institutions with capable leadership.4. Reform education, focusing on maths, science, and technology.No country has developed without prioritising these fields.Countries in East Asia - especially Singapore - demonstrate the power of a competent state working alongside a strong private sector.5. Fix public healthcare.Clinics and hospitals must function properly where people live. Services should be accessible, clean, and effective.Facilities like Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital already exist - they must simply work properly.6. Cut red tape and attract investment.If governance improves, investors will come - as they did in Singapore.Policy uncertainty - such as debates around expropriation without compensation - must be resolved to restore confidence.7. Replace BEE with a broad-based redress programme.Focus on education and empowering workers rather than enriching politically connected elites.This approach would benefit lower-income workers across racial lines while addressing inequality more effectively.8. Rebuild public infrastructure.This is technically straightforward and achievable with proper planning and execution.9. Secure borders and restore the integrity of citizenship.Illegal immigration and corruption in systems like Home Affairs must be addressed decisively.10. Moral regeneration of society.Communities are struggling with social issues such as substance abuse and crime. These must be addressed alongside economic reforms.In conclusion:The African National Congress represents the era of black politics. That chapter is over.The Democratic Alliance represents white politics. We cannot return to that either.The only viable path forward is a new, shared political project - one we have not yet truly attempted.Thank you.

Prince Mashele BNC#8: South Africa has one last political option - and everything depends on it

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