Political analyst Andre Duvenage has stated the time had arrived for drastic changes in the political landscape. According to Duvenage it was highly unlikely that political parties would have an outright majority come elections in the future. Devenage said the only possibility was seeing parties amalgamate (merge) or working close together, just like the progressive alliance parties in parliament.
“This means there will be reconfiguration of the political spectrum and at the moment it seems as though the political spectrum is dividing and there are more identities. “Every election year, more and more parties are entering the political frame and there is fragmentation of the bigger parties – we have seen that in the ANC and with Cope,” he said. The analyst said the splitting up of parties was now a process, adding that there were also dynamics of the coalitions and alliances. Duvenage said South Africans may experience more corporation among political parties. On the progressive alliance, he said one would not exclude it as there was a possibility that it would retain power.
“There are two scenarios: one, ANC with progressive alliance or two, ANC with the middle-ground approach like the current government of National Unity (GNU) predominately, but there is a possibility of the progressive alliance retaining power with the ANC.”
So, the ANC has lost its dominance as South Africa’s leading party for the decades to come. But this is part of democracy. Voting processes and trends are not based on rigid obligations and practice but on what the people desire. The ANC and the other political parties particularly such as the DA and the other coalition members of the GNU have to recognize their positions are subject to the wishes of the people. What the people desire are jobs, food security and protection of rights. The splintering of political parties such as the ANC and even the DA after Mmusi Maimane left is part of the evolution of parties. They grow and mature. What matters is can they provide?
The ANC may be playing musical chairs with the formation of the GNU. But the other parties such as the DA and the IFP need to do some soul searching and reflection on how to grow their own support bases. Key to this is forming policies that can grow the country’s economy.
South Africa ranked first in only one category – forex stability and liquidity – while it lost the top spot in terms of economic output to Egypt. Worryingly for the future, it also came in last place on the continent regarding GDP growth forecasts, income inequality and unemployment. South Africa’s economy has been relatively stagnant over the past decade, hovering around 1% GDP growth annually. This is below the country’s population growth rate of around 1.6% – meaning South Africans are getting poorer every year. Earlier this year, the country lost its place as the best-rate sovereign in Sub-Saharan Africa with foreign debt to Ivory Coast. “Long the continent’s economic powerhouse, South Africa faces major headwinds that have seen other countries supersede it in a variety of consequential rankings,” RMB said in the report. “At fourth place overall, Africa’s southernmost nation lags the two idyllic island nations, as well as northern powerhouse Egypt.”
It is embarrassing that South Africa has fallen far behind in terms of debt. This shows now more than ever that the leadership of the GNU under President Cyril Ramaphosa needs to pull through and grow the country’s economy. There can no longer be any more delays and indecisiveness on the path of the president. There needs to be a critical plan to improve the country’s economy again, so jobs can come into being. The lack of regenerative income does not spell that all is well and good for South Africa’s economy. Both the ANC and DA which wants to have some impact in this administration needs to pull through. South Africa is the bridge that should connect the thorough fares of the southern hemisphere. Pretoria under the Seventh Administration needs to coordinate a plan to put the country back on track and attract investors. Then Ramaphosa, and his collective leadership in the GNU needs to come up with a plan to alleviate poverty in South Africa.
Improving South Africa’s economic growth is the only way to sustainably prevent foreign and local investors from taking money out of the country and instead investing more in local assets. This is evidenced in the financial results of Africa’s largest bank and comments from its chief executive. Standard Bank CEO Sim Tshabalala said South Africa is lagging behind the rest of the continent, and investors will increasingly look elsewhere for returns, further hindering economic growth. For the first time in 2023, Standard Bank made more money from its rest-of-Africa operations than it did in its home market. The lender’s operations outside of South Africa posted a 49% jump in headline earnings in the year, lifting the bank’s profit to a record R44.21 billion. Its South African business, on the other hand, grew just 3% as the continent’s most advanced economy struggles with energy and logistics crises.
Tshabalala said positive fiscal reforms are taking place across the continent to make those countries more attractive to investors. These reforms have also been complimented by policy reforms that make it easier to trade in Africa, reduce regulations, and make it easier to do business.
The national economic growth should be the chief priority for the GNU. There can be no excuses or delays in coming up with a formula for the growth of Gross Domestic Profit (GDP). Yes, the looting of state resources due to state capture and the outages of energy on the power grid known as load shedding has had its role in discouraging investors from putting money in the economy. There is a need to create a culture in state business where the values of being transparent and being accountable should be the priority. This requires the efforts from all major political parties in the GNU to pull through and come up with a plan. The DA for example has always wanted the presidency to allocate more of its powers and duties concerning the appointment of the National Police Commissioner, the heads of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), and other positions to the country’s judicial commission.
The growth of free trade among African nations as a result of the African continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) can be an opportunity for South Africa to utilize. The country needs to learn from the experiences of other nations on the continent that have introduced the necessary financial and economic reforms to alleviate the sufferings of their peoples. Its all a matter of time for South Africa to learn from its past to grow into the future.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
