Poor South Africans angry 'over ANC rot'
2012-12-14 22:31
Soweto - Beneath the undying loyalty of poor blacks to
the ANC, there is a growing resentment towards the movement that delivered
South Africa from apartheid 18 years ago.
In Soweto, once home to
anti-apartheid heroes Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, residents struggling
against high unemployment, crime and pervasive corruption are not afraid to speak
frankly about what they call the ANC's rot.
"The ANC is not a bad movement, it is the people who
have brought the rot to the party," said Slavate Marema, who has never had
a job since finishing school five years ago.
"Leaders don't seem to care much about us once they
get our votes. All they seem to care about is enriching themselves and driving
around in fancy cars, and telling us that government has no money," said
the 22-year-old.
After decades of championing the fight against apartheid
rule, the ANC led South Africa peacefully into a "rainbow nation" in
1994 and its leader Mandela was elected the country's first black president.
But the ruling ANC is now accused of abandoning its roots
and core constituency.
"As far as I am concerned we have no government.
They are serving themselves, busy lining their own pockets," said France
Diholo, a retired factory worker.
"The rot that you see today, did not start with
[Jacob] Zuma, it has been creeping up slowly since Mandela days," he lamented.
Service delivery
Too often, Soweto residents complain, ANC membership has
become synonymous with instant wealth and the beneficiaries of lucrative
government contracts seem to be politically connected.
The ANC government has often come under fire for
excessive spending on luxury hotel stays, and providing small armies of
round-the-clock security to officials, while the most of the population battle
unacceptably high crime rates.
"These days security seems to be reserved for high
profile ANC politicians, who travel with groups of armed police in fast cars.
When communities need them they are not available," fumed Tankiso Mmusi.
Although the ANC government has built 2.8 million homes
since taking power, around 20% of South Africans still have no electricity and
10% no running water. Protests over service delivery are frequent.
Reports that the government spent more than R200m of taxpayers'
money upgrading Zuma's private home, complete with helipad, underground bunkers
and a clinic, are jarring for many.
A divided society
Despite being the largest economy on the continent and
home to a burgeoning black middle class, South Africa remains one of the most
unequal societies in the world.
The grievances are reaching a crescendo at a difficult time
for the ANC, as it prepares for a leadership conference on Sunday, held every
five years, which effectively kicks off the campaign for elections in 2014.
But like many people who felt angered by the ANC, Diholo
said he will continue voting for the party, which still holds a commanding
electoral majority.
Failed transformation
At the 2009 elections the ANC won almost 66% of the
17-plus million votes cast.
The DA, which is often seen as "too-white" by
black voters, got just 17% of the vote.
The bigger risk for the ANC may be that voters stay away
from the polls altogether.
But according to Andile Mngxitama, a firebrand columnist
for The Sowetan newspaper, the "conditions for a revolution are rife in
South Africa".
"The ANC has failed to transform the state into an
instrument of the people," he wrote in a recent column.
"The question we need to ask is will the South
African revolution be by the ballot or by insurrection, like the Arab
Spring?"
That may be over-exuberant, but there is little doubt the
ANC's revolutionary lustre has lost some of its shine.
