As voters head to the poll, the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa watches with bated breath as its future at the helm of affairs in the country is decided.
Unlike many countries, the people of South Africa do not vote for leaders on election day, they vote for parties, and the ANC has had a tumultuous relationship with the people following Jacob Zuma’s election and subsequent corruption scandals. Twenty-Five years after apartheid, the ANC faces its toughest election yet as President Ramaphosa pleads with the people to believe in his party once more.
In the country today, there is a wave of collective anger over brazen corruption, the floundering economy and the pressing need for land law reforms.
Voter Apathy and the ANC
According to a report published by the BBC, voter apathy is very visible in today’s election and there is a growing sense of disillusionment among young people in the country.
“Young people queuing to vote have been speaking of their difficulties in finding jobs, with unemployment at 27%…A young voter said that her future employment prospects were on her mind. “I don’t feel confident about getting the job I want,” she said.”
“I’m a member of the ANC but I didn’t vote for them this time,” construction worker Thabo Makhene told the Reuters news agency. “They need to catch a wake-up. The way they run the state, mishandling state funds, they’ve lost their morals.”
The ANC and Land Reform Issues
Land ownership is still a hot topic in South Africa due to land laws that were made during the period when apartheid was permissible by law in South Africa.
Unfortunately, the end of apartheid did not bring an end to the disproportionate land laws in the country and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party has hunkered down on this point in an effort to change it.
This, according to the BBC, has forced the ANC to reconsider its stance on the current land laws and work on giving more land back to black people “which has resulted in a pledge to conduct land expropriation without compensation. The main opposition party, the DA, says it does not believe land reform needs to be “carried out in a way that takes from one to give to another”, and instead promises to prioritise land reform in the budget and to release unused government land.”
Election Numbers
- 26.76 million registered voters
- 55% of them are female
- A record 48 parties are on the ballot
- 28,757 voting stations
- 220,000 members of electoral staff
- Six million young people did not register to vote
Header picture is: South Africans waiting outside a polling station in Alexandra, a township in Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
CreditJoao Silva for The New York Times
