South Africa has spoken, but will its leaders listen?

After its worst-ever election result, Joseph Dana wonders if the African National Congress can reform itself to meet the challenges facing South Africa

A statue of Cecil John Rhodes is removed from the University of Cape Town as thousands cheer in April 2015. Nic Bothma / EPA

Last week, the African National Congress (ANC) suffered its worst election result in the party’s history. Africa’s oldest liberation movement, which freed South Africa from white-minority rule through a decades-long international struggle, has been cut down to size in local elections after ruling the country for more than two decades in what some have called a democratic dictatorship. In a year of notable elections around the world, South Africa’s local vote is one of the most important. Here’s why.

As apartheid gave way to democracy in the early 1990s, South Africa also underwent a significant wave of privatisation. From motorways to electricity plants, formerly state-owned enterprises were placed in private (almost entirely white) hands with the ANC’s approval. Today the country has one of the most unequal societies in the world.

In an indirect but profound manner, this consolidation of wealth and the corruption required to facilitate it in the early 1990s was a salient issue in the elections last week, particularly for ANC leaders who oversaw this economic transformation. Some of these politicians began using their power to become an integral part of the business elite that would end up undermining the country’s transition to democracy.

Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s deputy president and an ANC leader who once proudly articulated the movement’s Marxist pedigree, is a prime example. After liberation, he became a successful private businessman by joining the boards of several multinational firms. As such he has been accused of unfairly using his political power to the benefit of the private sector.

In 2012, 34 striking miners were killed during a protest at a Lonmin mine in Marikana. It was one of the worst episodes of police violence since the apartheid era. Mr Ramaphosa, who was a Lonmin board member, was accused of encouraging the police to violently subdue the strike. While he was later cleared of responsibility, Mr Ramaphosa’s stake in Lonmin and other companies has been a source of controversy.

President Jacob Zuma has similarly been in the spotlight facing allegations of corruption and nepotism. The president’s use of state funds to build a lavish presidential retreat in his hometown of Nkandla was found to be in breach of the constitution by the country’s high court. In a sign of the how the tide is turning against Mr Zuma, however, the ANC was roundly defeated in Nkandla’s election last week.

In a remarkable episode last December, Mr Zuma replaced the country’s finance minister with an inexperienced outsider viewed as loyal to the president. The decision sent shock waves through the South African economy at a time when emerging markets were under added global stress. Mr Zuma was forced to reverse his decision and appoint a respected former finance minister, but the saga highlighted the mechanisms the ANC uses to entrench its power. Since liberation, the ANC’s political survival has been based on a system of patronage that guarantees a near-total grip on power.

Along with other liberation movements in Africa, the ANC has proven itself unstable in governing the country. These movements, after all, excel at liberating and not necessarily governing. Unlike its neighbour Zimbabwe, however, South Africa did not transform into a full-blown dictatorship after colonialism was defeated. The country admirably focused on reconciliation and mending racial scars. This progress, which includes the creation of one of the world’s most inspiring constitutions, has been overshadowed by the ANC’s rampant corruption and inability to improve the economic situation of all South Africans.

Given the gravity of the horrors of apartheid and the legacy of colonialism today, this is incredibly significant. As a referendum on the ANC’s seemingly untouchable power, the local elections are proof that democracy is meaningfully taking hold in the country – but the path ahead looks bumpy.

The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) was able to win municipalities in Nelson Mandela Bay and further entrench its power in the Western Cape, which includes Cape Town. In Johannesburg, the ANC failed to win more than 50 per cent of the vote and will now have to rule the city in a coalition. The far left Economic Freedom Fighters has a strong showing across the country and will probably play kingmaker in several coalition governments.

The ANC’s contribution to the development of South Africa as a free and inclusive society is clear, but it is time for the country to look beyond nostalgia for the ANC’s liberation credentials.

The biggest challenge remaining for South Africa is reforming the economy in a manner that breaks the elites’ control on wealth and ensures the creation of a viable black middle class.

This will require the ANC to change its approach to governing the country and internal party management. The type of patronage on display in the finance minister shake-up late last year must end if the country is to modernise its infrastructure and implement critical measures such as a national minimum wage.

The ANC must focus on running the country instead of preserving its power. Despite the fact that local elections have been understood as a referendum on Mr Zuma, the president will probably use the loss to further entrench his power. The South African people have made their voice heard; the question is when their votes will result in change in the ANC.

On Twitter: @ibnezra