Don't Give Up on South Africa

Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) comprehensively won the election of April 1994 with a vote of some 70% of the electorate.

This meant that the ANC assumed it could do almost anything they wanted to. This included accelerated corruption, which took many forms. One of the most popular was that newly appointed ‘management’ were allowed to steal what they wanted from the large State Corporations such as the Electricity Supply Commission (Escom) and the Railways, who then more or less went broke when the ANC Government just refunded the Corporation from public funds and management was allowed to continue with their corrupt ways.

An example of the results of this corrupt activity, as far as Escom was concerned, was that there were massive blackouts across the country often for up to 11 hours in every 24. This was because of funds earmarked for providing additional generating capacity being diverted to ‘other uses’.

The South African constitution carefully guided by Mandela ensured a free press and an independent judiciary, which meant that there was wide understanding of what those in power were up to. The corruption accelerated when Jacob Zuma became president in 2009.

The ANC maintained its grip on power over the years with more than 50 % of voters still supporting what they saw as the party of ‘independence’. This changed in the election of May 2024, when the ANC vote dropped to 39%, which meant that the ANC no longer had a majority in Parliament.

The Democratic Alliance (DA), which is made up of voters of all shades: “Coloured” ( this community does have a distinct culture of its own, they speak Afrikaans but were discriminated against in the Apartheid years because they weren’t white), Indian (both Hindu and Moslem), White, and an increasing number of, in many cases, educated Blacks.

In the 2024 election the DA garnered 21% of the popular vote, a record for them. The DA had run the Western Cape competently since 1994, and this is visible as far as the general population in South Africa is concerned.

In the end, after the 2024 election. the ANC and the DA formed what is known as the Government of National Unity (GNU).

The interesting thing is that this is working in the interests of all South Africans. The DA has been very selective about what issues it tries to tackle. Corruption has been significantly reduced - for example, there is no longer any load shedding resulting in blackouts across the country. Also, the DA opposed the introduction of an increase in the VAT, arguing that the increase would be borne by the people who could least afford to pay it.

The latest polls indicate that the DA is now leading the ANC and it has a realistic chance of forming Government after the elections due in 2029.

Many things could go wrong between now and 2029. The hope is the DA can demonstrate that running the country competently is the only way to go. If this happens South Africa could become the industrial powerhouse of Africa. South Africa has always had outstanding management and creativity, which still exists.

Let’s hope it happens.