African National Congress faces tough road without Mandela
JOHANNESBURG — Vilikazi Street in Soweto was quiet after the announcement of the death of Nelson Mandela — until a parade of African National Congress (ANC) members dressed colorfully in yellow, green and black marched past their former leader’s home singing old struggle songs and praising his life’s work.
It’s been a common sight since Mandela fell ill late last year. The ANC has made sure its delegates are anywhere there is a gathering in tribute of the former president, busing in members wearing the party colors and singing songs harking back to tougher times.
That’s because, some say, they are looking to capitalize as much a possible on Mandela’s cachet in anticipation of upcoming elections next year — and they want to remind people that Mandela was the ANC’s leader years before he occupied the top job in this country.
“(The ANC) will try to exploit his image and his name, especially now that he has passed away and with the election around the corner,” said Tawane Kupe, deputy vice chancellor at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. “In our culture, there is a certain respect for when elders are around, but now, without Mandela, you cannot be sure people will act accordingly.”
People gather to pay their respects to the late South African President Nelson Mandela at the Mandela statue in Parliament Square in London. Andy Rain, epa Fullscreen
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Mandela joined the ANC in 1942 and quickly became one of its most charismatic and outspoken members. In 1991, he officially became president of the organization after spending 27 years in prison for conspiracy to overthrow the government.
He played an important role in the organization as an early author of its underground resistance strategy, as a celebrated symbol of the liberation struggle while imprisoned and as an initiator of the negotiations that brought the ANC to power, analysts say.
Today, he remains a valuable symbol to the ANC as reverence for Mandela helps to cement the organization’s popular legitimacy at home and bolsters its stature abroad, said South Africa political scientist Daryl Glaser, based in Johannesburg.
Even so, disillusionment with the ANC abounds in South Africa because of the slow progress in tackling poverty and providing jobs for millions of unemployed young South Africans. One in four working-age South Africans are unemployed — more than half of South Africans under 35 — while more than half of all children in the country live in poverty, according to government figures.
Many blame the ANC for such grim statistics, wondering if they have done enough and pointing to corruption scandals.
The latest scandal came last week after a leaked document showed President Jacob Zuma lied to parliament about the price he had paid for his Nkandla homestead in Kwa-Zulu Natal. There were also findings that upgrades to the complex, which cost more than $20 million, were unnecessary and should have not been paid by taxpayers.
“The ANC has let down Madiba,” said Desmond Mongoai, 29, incensed over the homestead costs. “It’s affecting us directly. If the ANC are telling us that they don’t have money for roads, why are they spending on mansion that cost $20 million?”
Analysts say that while Mandela hasn’t exercised political power in more than a decade, he set high standards and expectations that aren’t being met on the street.
“The problem is with the way they (the ANC) runs the country,” said Kupe. “Mandela’s ethos is still there, but the day-to-day practice of running this country isn’t in line with his legacy.”
That’s why even though the ANC has so closely identified with Mandela’s struggles to bring down apartheid, it might have a shaky future now that he is gone.
“Mandela was good, a straight man — he wasn’t corrupt like this government,” said Melidbah Monaga, 35, a domestic worker. “I don’t think the ANC will survive without him. The ANC right now, we don’t believe in them — they promised a lot but don’t deliver. It’s time for new parties.” Source: USA TODAY