History of the Democratic Alliance (South Africa)

South Africa's ANC controls eight of nine provinces - why the Western Cape will remain elusive in the 2024 elections

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

The African National Congress (ANC), which governs South Africa, finally held its postponed Western Cape provincial elective congress in June.

Key Points:

The African National Congress (ANC), which governs South Africa, finally held its postponed Western Cape provincial elective congress in June.
The new executive is the first elected ANC Western Cape provincial executive in six years.
By history and demography, the ANC in the Western Cape faces tougher challenges than anywhere else in the country.
A majority of coloured voters vote against the ANC, and in the Western Cape coloured voters constitute a majority of the electorate.
The coloured majority of the Western Cape electorate has ensured that the ANC has never won an absolute majority in that province.

These were liberal activists and veterans committed to nonracialism.
But in the rural Western Cape, today’s DA branches are based upon the renamed National Party branches of the 20th century.
The first ANC Western Cape chair after 1994 was the respected Chris Nissen, a trilingual clergyman (speaking isiXhosa, English and Afrikaans) from the Presbyterian church.
Simultaneously, nationwide, the ANC Youth League was disbanded, and the ANC Women’s League very little in evidence.

The newly elected Western Cape provincial executive committee balances Africans such as Tyhalisisu and Ayanda Bam with coloureds such as Neville Delport, Sharon Davids and Derek Appel.
Next year’s general elections will show how far these measures have changed ANC fortunes in the Western Cape.

Retrieved on:

Monday, April 24, 2023

This would mark a dramatic change from the current situation in which coalition governments have only been formed at local level.

Key Points:

This would mark a dramatic change from the current situation in which coalition governments have only been formed at local level.
The ANC lost its majorities in metropolitan councils in Gauteng and Nelson Mandela Bay.
One option that’s been talked about with increasing intensity is a coalition between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
(In the past, the ANC was also involved in provincial coalitions in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape .

The EFF describes itself as a Marxist-Leninist party influenced by the thoughts of Frantz Fanon.
Towards the end of the term close to 2021, the EFF withdrew its cooperation from the DA coalition.
A similar tendency has recently emerged in KwaZulu-Natal province where the EFF and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) shared power in about 25 local governments, in some instances already since the 2016 elections.
Recently the EFF announced that they will withdraw from these coalition governments, and pair with the ANC to form new governments.

The EFF’s strategy has been unpredictable most of the time.
The ANC would do the same in Johannesburg, and the DA control all the positions in Tshwane.

What does the latest ANC-EFF approach tell us?
It is widely speculated that it is primarily confined to Gauteng, the country’s economic hub, and that the ANC’s provincial leaders, including Premier Panyaza Lesufi favour such an approach.
In the Gauteng provincial election in 2019, the ANC received a slim majority of only 50.12%.

National government is primarily responsible for national policies.
The question is whether the ANC and EFF will be able to find each other in policy terms.
Take for example land ownership which is a policy priority for the EFF.

So far, the EFF and ANC have avoided it in the case of top positions.
In Johannesburg and Tshwane, more recently, they have not nominated their own members for the positions of mayor and speaker but gave them to very small parties.
They have not yet been in a situation of sharing power to the satisfaction of both sides.