Civil society activism in South Africa diminished after the ANC’s rise to power in 1994, mistakenly trusting the ANC’s leadership. Over 30 years, the ANC’s governance has led to systemic issues. The 2024 elections present an opportunity for civil society to reclaim its role, ensuring robust democratic institutions and public participation.
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 at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.
By Solly Moeng
Unlike during the decades leading to the end of apartheid, especially during the 1970s and 1980s when countless NGOs gave life to civil society – famously under the umbrella of the widely respected erstwhile United Democratic Front (UDF) – united and loosely coordinated civil society activism somewhat took a step back when the Nelson Mandela-led ANC came into power in April 1994. In hindsight, this was a big mistake.
The reason for this retreat was, however, understandable at the time. At the core of its rationale was the widespread belief that the ANC would offer the much called-for “government by the people for the people” and work to lead the journey towards the realisation of the Vision set-out in the post-apartheid Constitution and Bill of Rights, all well summarised in the preamble to the 2006 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Accordingly, there would no longer be a need for South Africans to go to bed with one eye open, wondering what the notoriously well-oiled apartheid state machinery would be up to while they slept.
Fast-forward to 2024 and taking a privileged gaze over the past 30 years of, mostly, destructive ANC leadership of the country, particularly where it concerns vital state institutions, the economy, State Owned Entities (SOEs), social harmony and general morale in the country, it has become clear that it was a big mistake to place blind trust in the hands of the men and women in politics on the basis that they were, at the time, led by the venerable Nelson Mandela and would therefore always act in our best collective interest. The drafters of our Constitution also placed a lot of power in the Office of the President hoping that all of his successors would emulate Mandela’s visionary, empathetic, and emotionally mature style of leadership. It has all been a mistake. 30 years have been too long.
Civil Society on the Sidelines
As I write this, South African voters are once again standing on the sidelines watching helplessly as political parties wrestle over the electoral spoils, with some of them already making demands over what ministries they must control in any agreed coalition or government of national unity. Often, their choice of what ministries they want to control is motivated by the size of budget those ministries come with – for patronage purposes – or by their strategic influence over the affairs of state.
As in the past, it is a movie in which the voters’ role is understood, even accepted, to have fully played itself out before the elections – when they were being charmed by the various parties – and after they cast their votes. All that is done. They’re now, just like in the aftermath of the 2021 elections and all other elections before, expected to remain quietly in their lanes and respectfully watch the rest of the movie play out as political parties squabble over the spoils and determine the endgame on their behalf.
Read more: 🔒 FT: Gideon Rachman – Ramaphosa and South Africa on the edge
2024 must be a lot more than a switch from one party to another/others
As it all plays out, no one seems to be saying anything about these watershed elections (for the first time since the end of apartheid, the ANC no longer has the absolute majority to wield total control over the affairs of the South African State) presenting an opportunity for South Africa to heal from at least two decades of ANC abuse and stand-up again as a strong African democracy. There are also no indications that the largely secret discussions between the ANC and various opposition parties touch on the opportunity presented by the 2024 electoral outcome for the country to undertake an honest assessment of the robustness of the democratic institutions created after the end of apartheid to stand as a sure buffer between the people and hell.
The reality all parties must all stare in the eye is that most of such institutions have proven to be vulnerable to sadistic weakening and repurposing to suit narrow financial and political interests of the politically connected rent-seekers linked to the ANC and its ideological subsidiaries, including the EFF. The work that must be done by the new multiparty administration must start with an honest, systemic, assessment of the country’s institutional weaknesses and – working with credible civil society formations – come up with ways to ensure that no man, woman, or political formation ever gets to do to South Africa and her people what was done over the past 2-3 decades.
If not now, When?
From any angle one looks at it, the post-2024 election period is a big deal for South Africa. Historians will remember it as a key milestone in the past-apartheid trajectory of the South African democracy, the slow, but sure, start of the post-ANC South Africa. It doesn’t matter that this former liberation movement and many who support it are still in denial about what is happening, struggling to come to terms with it and hoping that the party will succeed in wrapping all colours of wool over the eyes of its opponents to end-up in a deal that will ensure that the ANC remains in control of the country’s fortunes.
Civil Society cannot afford to remain on the sidelines while it hopes for the best, like it has over the years. It too has its work cut out for it. It must demand a better deal for the pained people of South Africa, including strengthened public participation processes that cannot be ignored by those in political power whenever they’re not happy with the views of the public. Underpinned by the values and vision of the Constitution for a non-racial, inclusive, and prosperous state, the sovereignty of the Republic of South Africa wrested in the hands of the people, not the political elite.
To realise meaningful, lasting change, civil society formations must play a more active role by investing in campaigns to improve non-partisan civic education that will serve as a firm foundation for voter education drives ahead of elections. This must include investment drives for more affordable general access to the internet and tools of information and knowledge acquisition. They must also be champions of the kind of civic culture change that must culminate in a progressive realisation by ordinary citizens that the rights they always demand to be restored and protected constitute one side of a coin. The other side is made up of the obligations we must all share to contribute to the creation of safer, cleaner, and generally more caring living environments for all.
If post-ANC South Africa is to realise its potential to be the leading African democracy it could have been, both civil society and the political class must partner meaningfully from now onwards.    Â
Read also:
