Adam Habib: "Real Gap in the Electorate Still to the Left of the ANC"

Following the ANC's robust win at the polls in South Africa's 2014 General Elections, on 22 May 2014, SACSIS and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation hosted a panel discussion under the banner: "Will the ANC rule until Jesus returns?"

The primary impetus for this question is the fact that the ANC won the General Election this year, despite its leader being tarnished by major corruption scandals and the party's service delivery record being less than exemplary. Meanwhile South Africa's inequality too has worsened under the ANC's rule. So what is the ANC's secret? How does it manage to stay in power despite its poor track record?

The panellists at this the event were, Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand; Jonny Steinberg, lecturer in African Studies at the University of Oxford; Nomboniso Gasa, researcher, analyst and public speaker on gender, politics, leadership and cultural issues; and Steven Friedman, Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at the University of Johannesburg.

According to Adam Habib, the real gap in the electorate is to the left of the ANC. In his view, the vote for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) was not a vote for the left; it was a protest vote. Habib argued that there is still the space for a left party in South Africa, potentially NUMSA's workers' party could fill that void, but the danger NUMSA faces is narrowing its focus too much on workers' issues.

Habib also said that he was concerned that the ANC's National Development Plan (NDP) "ducks" the fundamental question at the heart of the economy -- and that is how to address inequality.

Visit the SACSIS You Tube channel to hear what the other panellists had to say.