PRETORIA – Former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, one of the most sensible voices in the ruling African National Congress (ANC), has said the time of the ANC in power is coming to an abrupt end.
The party, which has dominated South African politics since 1994 and has won five consecutive general elections, faces a crisis of its own mainly as a result of poor governance and endemic corruption.
A steady decline in support raises the real prospect of ANC winning less than 50% in the next general election in 2024.
Motlanthe pointed out that South African politics is in a state of flux that will inevitably lead to a realignment of political forces.
No ANC figure of his stature has yet admitted that the ANC as such might cease to exist.
South Africa without the ANC is considered unimaginable but events on the ground point out to the eventual realisation of that seeming impossible feat.
Motlanthe served as president between the ousting of Thabo Mbeki in September 2008 and his inauguration to Jacob Zuma after the April 2009 general elections.
Roger Southall, a Professor of Sociology at University of the Witwatersrand said South African history shows that political parties do not last forever but rather fragment or merge and change their identity as the political landscape changes.
Professor Southall added that given the consequences of its poor governance, many ANC leaders worry about the declining popular support of the famed revolutionary party.
If the ANC loses its absolute majority in the 2024 national elections, it will have to form a coalition with another party.
However, history shows that South African parties that seek to govern by forging unity out of diversity tend to fragment when faced with fundamental political or economic crisis.
ANC has experienced a decline under incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa who has been accused of playing to the tune of white monopoly capitalists by his critics chief among them is the EFF leader Julius Malema.
Ramaphosa is under increasing pressure to expropriate land, deal with the unemployment issue as well as the immigrants crisis which has seen the rise of a vigilante group named Operation Dudula.
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