By JAMES MARKIN
As expected, the results of the May 29 general election in South Africa were cataclysmic for the governing African National Congress (ANC). The party of Nelson Mandela fell to its worst result ever, receiving just about 40% of the vote, down from over 57% in the last elections. One cause of this disaster for the ANC was the rise of former President Jacob Zuma’s new party, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK). MK hurt the ANC, especially in the Zulu-majority province of KwaZulu Natal, where ANC support fell from 55% in 2019 to 17%, and the MK managed to capture 45% of the vote.
With the ANC unable to form a government on its own, intense speculation abounded in the aftermath of the election of what government coalition would be formed. The most “ideologically natural” was a coalition of the ANC with the MK and the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). As the MK and EFF had both split from the ANC, this would be more or less a “homecoming” of these parties to an ANC government. However, this possibility scared many in South African politics. The MK still bore the stench of Jacob Zuma’s corruption and the “state-capture” scandal, and the EFF is known for its radical policies, such as calling for immediate land reform and the nationalization of mines and banks.
During the election campaign, the leader of the liberal free-market Democratic Alliance (DA) party, John Steenhuisen, argued to voters that they needed to vote for his party to prevent this potential ANC/MK/EFF government, calling it a “Doomsday coalition.” Indeed, the South African capitalist class has demonstrated its preference for a coalition that included Steenhuisen’s DA instead. This could clearly be seen by reading the tea leaves of South African currency and bond markets, which tended to soar when the potential of an ANC/DA coalition was high and collapse when this plan faced setbacks.
It was in this environment of speculation and fear following the election that the ANC, with great pomp and circumstance, announced the formation of a “Government of National Unity” or GNU. A “GNU” usually refers to a government that incorporates all major parties into a non-ideological coalition. This is normally done to confront some kind of national crisis of the capitalist class, such as the British GNU during the Second World War. But the so-called GNU in South Africa does not really fit within this concept as it appears to actually be a coalition of the ANC and the capitalist right, represented by the DA, conservative Zulu IFP, white rightist FF+, and the anti-immigrant Patriotic Alliance, with other smaller parties (none with more than two to three MPs) merely along for the ride.
Indeed, the EFF and MK are conspicuous in their absence, despite failed last-minute attempts by the EFF to make their way into the government. The result is the most right-wing post-apartheid government that South Africa has had since the CODESA government of Nelson Mandela in 1994, which was bound to include the racist National Party as per the terms of the “Sunset Clause” negotiated by the ANC and South African Communist Party (SACP) with the old apartheid regime.
What does the Democratic Alliance stand for?
Indeed, the DA itself is the result of a merger between the old National Party, which created apartheid, and its white and liberal opposition, the Democratic Party. Despite the fact that the DA boasts that 30% of its voters are now Black (somewhat underwhelming in a country that is over 80% Black), many Black South Africans still see the party as first and foremost representing the interests of white South Africans. The 2019 resignation of the party’s previous leader, Mmusi Maimane, purportedly due to hostility he faced for being Black within the party, clearly did nothing to help in that regard.
This issue was made all the more problematic when, only a few weeks into the new “GNU,” the DA was beset by multiple scandals: a white DA MP was revealed to have posed for racist photos and another to have placed incendiary and racist remarks on video. The most damaging of these scandals, a video of DA MP and YouTuber Renaldo Gouws calling for the death of all Black South Africans and employing all of the worst racist slurs, resulted in his suspension from parliament and a criminal investigation for hate speech. None of this has done anything to reduce the apprehension that many South Africans feel about a DA coalition.
While under ANC rule, South Africans have had to deal with neo-liberalism and corrupt mismanagement that has left the country in an extreme state of inequality, with millions of South Africans facing extreme poverty while a small few prosper. The DA’s argument has always been that the sorry state of affairs in South Africa is not due to the ANC’s neoliberal program, but simply because the ANC is not competent or neoliberal enough. In other words, in the face of a country that is suffering greatly from the sickness of capitalist exploitation, the DA has prescribed another dose of the disease as a “cure.”
Their program is the typical neoliberal horror show one would expect: They want to end affirmative action across all sectors, weaken collective bargaining rules for workers, and force unions to pay a fee to go on strike. Indeed, they cite strong teachers’ unions as a “problem” with the South African education system. They also promise a new round of austerity, with low taxes and massive cuts to public spending. This would entail the reduction of government services to be replaced with private-sector alternatives, especially when it comes to utilities, hospitals, and the ANC’s national health insurance scheme, which they promise to scrap.
As if this weren’t enough, the DA wants to come out and abolish the ANC’s long-broken promise of land reform and instead institute strict protections for the private property rights of mostly white landowners. They have also favored a pro-U.S. foreign policy, which has meant they have been the least critical major party when it comes to Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.
Much of this policy is deeply unpopular with ordinary South Africans, especially those who live outside of the DA’s urban strongholds in the province of Western Cape. In fact, while the DA received about 21% of the vote nationally, outside of Western Cape it was closer to 13-14%. However, the party’s program is very popular with both South African capitalists and international imperialists with interests in the country who have signaled their approval of the ANC/DA “GNU” through soaring markets for both South African government bonds and the country’s currency, the rand.
The platform of the GNU has yet to be released. Indeed, it is unclear exactly how much of it will reflect the ANC manifesto, and how much it will reflect the DA manifesto. While both programs are pro-market and reflect capitalist interests, including within South Africa and abroad, the two parties represent different sectors of the South African capitalist class. Thus, the GNU so far has been dominated by an ongoing political tug-of-war between the ANC, who wants to totally lead this coalition as if it is still the majority party, and the DA which wants to get as many political concessions for its participation as possible.
So far, the ANC appears to be winning the tug-of-war, as the DA accepted a cabinet which was a far cry from what it wanted, receiving only six out of 32 cabinet positions with its leader ending up as merely minister for agriculture. Still, it is almost certain, given its composition, that the new “GNU” will be the most right-wing and pro-austerity government that South Africa has faced since soon after the fall of apartheid.
The fight against the GNU begins now
It is now time for the South African working class to take the fight to the GNU and be ready to defend itself against imminent attacks. In these early days, the metalworkers’ union, NUMSA, has made statements and taken actions that might help define the way forward.
NUMSA is one of the most prominent independent trade unions in the world and has long been critical of ANC policy. However, despite announcing the formation of a socialist-oriented worker’s party in the 2000s, the union has not yet seriously contested any elections.
In the most recent set of elections, NUMSA warned against voting for parties that “have no shame in openly promoting xenophobia, and who vow to liquidate the very idea of the existence of trade unions and the very idea of a national minimum wage. They are anti-worker and union-bashing champions of labour broking, casual work, and slave wages instead of a living wage.” It identified eight parties, including the Democratic Alliance, as being “the worst,” which working people “must not vote for.”
Immediately after the election results became public, the union came out publicly against a potential ANC/DA coalition, saying in a public statement: “If [the] vision of the DA were to be implemented in partnership with the ANC in a coalition, it is poor provinces who are already victims of austerity measures of GEAR who will be rendered ghost towns where the poverty of our people will continue to be their life experience. If VWSA, Isuzu, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Toyota South Africa, Ford Motor Company, and Nissan were to close as a result of this reckless policy of the DA, provinces like the Eastern Cape and rural towns, and KZN, community of Uitenhage in Nelson Mandela Metro, East London and the people of Mdantsane, the people of Tshwane, if these auto companies and the component value chain that benefit from the incentives to be closed by the DA, the levels of unemployment that is already worse will deepen. The level of crime, and all other social ills associated with it, will sky-rocket.”
While this statement merely called on existing politicians within and without the ANC to prevent such a coalition, the union has also taken action by continuing to apply pressure against capitalists at the point of production. Since the election, the union launched two strikes—one by workers at the Gauteng commuter rail system, Gautrain, and an illegal one-week strike against Ford South Africa, which resulted in victory on July 11 with 20,000-rand bonuses for workers. The actions of NUMSA show the kind of struggle that is necessary to hold off any attacks from the GNU.
While the EFF has promised to mount a more “mature” and effective opposition in parliament this time around, if South African workers are going to defeat the impending assault of the GNU, it will require mass struggle in the streets that mobilize as many people as possible to reject any new austerity and immiseration. Ultimately, what is needed is a true workers’ party, which could organize and lead this fightback, eventually leading South Africa onward to a socialist future.
