Nicholas Woode-Smith: The ANC’s deliberate failures – South Africa’s path to collapse
Nicholas Woode-Smith argues that South Africa is a failing country due to the African National Congress (ANC) and its ideological pursuit of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR). Woode-Smith asserts that the ANC's deliberate adoption of failed left-wing policies and intentional mismanagement is driving the country towards collapse. He emphasises the need for a united front of opposition parties, business, and civil society to challenge the ANC's rule in the upcoming elections and prevent the country's further decline.
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The ANC Wants South Africa to Fail
By Nicholas Woode-Smith*
South Africa is a failing country. This is inarguable. Rolling blackouts, continually rising unemployment, inflation, violent crime, and endemic social unrest are just a few symptoms of the inherent rot in this country. And at the helm of South Africa's collapse is the African National Congress (ANC) and its tripartite alliance of the South African Communist Party (SACP), and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).
It is well acknowledged that the ANC is not doing a good job. Even ANC supporters admit that the ANC is bad at governance. A survey of ANC supporters from Soweto, conducted by the Social Research Foundation broadly found that ANC voters distrusted the ANC and considered it largely inept.
For why ANC supporters who condemn their own party continue to vote for it, that could full another article. The question for this article is: why is the ANC failing, again and again, to govern properly?
Is it simply incompetent? Ignorant of what the country needs and how to achieve good results? This is hard to truly believe. There exists dozens of incredibly competent and skilled think-tanks and organisations that have repeatedly told the ANC exactly what it needs to do to get the country on track. In the 1990s, under GEAR, the ANC (mostly) did what it needed to do. Incompetence is not a valid excuse. The ANC has demonstrated in the past that it knows the pragmatic and right way to do things.
So, is the ANC malicious? I think this is far more likely. Look at the primary policies of the ANC. BEE is a race-based quota system reminiscent of the racial quotas of Apartheid. EWC aims at stripping particular demographics of their property. And despite economic theory and the evidence of reality, the ANC continues to embrace policies that exacerbate unemployment, poverty, and crime.
The fundamental answer to why the ANC seems so incompetent is its ideology. And that can be found in a publicly accessible campaign, which is unfortunately not so widely understood or known by South Africans.
The National Democratic Revolution (NDR).
What is the NDR?
The NDR is a set of policies and goals by the ANC and its communist allies in the SACP and Cosatu. Its goal is, simply, to change South Africa from a predominantly capitalist, free market economy to a socialist, and then full-blown communist society in the Soviet model. This is to be achieved over a period of at least 40 years (putting us over halfway through the process).
The NDR is acknowledged publicly throughout ANC and SACP policy documents. It isn't a secret. Yet, the lunacy of adopting policies that have repeatedly failed throughout the world has caused many people to deny that the ANC could be so insane. But one must only read their policies, their speeches, and their minutes to see how obsessed the ANC really is with Marxist theory and ideology.
Andre de Ruyter, ex-CEO of Eskom, was astounded to find how top-level officials at the ANC were still obsessed with "outdated communist ideologies".
Many in the business world are wilfully ignorant of the ANC's penchant for left-wing radicalism. An unforgivable wilful ignorance, considering the ANC's history and track record.
It is clear that the ANC is communist, with only ethnic nationalism and an un-ideological love of looting present to provide some variety.
But transitioning South Africa to socialism would be hard if things were doing well. So, the ANC requires the country to be poor, collapsing, and destitute so they can usher in a revolution.
Well-off, content people don't want socialism. Only the desperate and hungry can be tricked into embracing it.
So, the ANC has embraced policies that usher in rising unemployment (terrible labour policies), which further increases reliance on the state as the unemployed must go on welfare. While doing all this, they can blame capitalism and colonialism.
While destroying the country to make people pliable to socialism, the NDR also calls for increasing state control over society and the economy. National Health Insurance (NHI) is a blatant attempt to nationalise healthcare, private schools are constantly under attack, and governance boards are constantly being infiltrated by ANC officials. Expropriation Without Compensation (EWC) allows the state to seize private property, further eroding the very foundations of a free market economy.
BEE further gives the ANC the ability to coerce businesses into giving control of their business to state officials, while also ensuring that the business itself is sabotaged from within.
Intentional Failure
The ANC's incompetence is intentional. The further South Africa falls, the more drastic measures the ANC can take to push it towards its goal of complete state control of the economy and society.
Every step the ANC took towards pragmatism under Mandela and Mbeki was sacrificed by the left-wing radicals of the ANC when Zuma was put in charge. Under his looting and morally bankrupt policies, the progress made under GEAR was overturned. Reliable growth turned into constant decline.
It is foolish to look for solutions from the ANC, because they are getting exactly what they want. They want the country to collapse. They want institutions to buckle and fall. They want infrastructure to degrade.
The poorer this country gets, the easier it becomes to control. The NDR comes closer and closer to fruition with every passing step. Until there is nothing left to do but declare South Africa a full-blown communist state.
What must we do?
The ANC, or at the very least the dominant left-wing faction within it, the SACP and Cosatu, are the enemies of prosperity and recovery. Civil society, business and citizens must realise this. Do not expect the ANC to make the right decision. Assume that they will adopt the very policies that will lead to more strife, and that this decision is made intentionally and with full knowledge of the repercussions.
It is of tantamount importance that the ANC not be allowed to rule. Its support base must be chipped away as much as possible.
Come 2024, a united front of opposition parties, business and civil society must face off against the ANC and its socialist allies. And as voters, we must ensure we push the ANC as far below 50% as we can. Even a chaotic coalition will be preferable to the intentional failure of the ANC – and it is up to all of us to ensure that the ANC is no longer allowed to continue its ravaging of this country.
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*Nicholas Woode-Smith is an economic historian, political analyst, and author.