By Kwanta Douglas –
South Africans will vote in municipal elections on Monday, which are anticipated to show growing anger with the African National Congress party, which had been losing support even before the country’s fatal turmoil in July.
The ANC’s historic struggle against white minority rule, which concluded with Nelson Mandela’s election in 1994, is no longer a source of pride.
A number of high-ranking party members, including ex-president Jacob Zuma, have been implicated in corruption scandals, the most recent of which is tied to coronavirus funding.
Even before the outbreak, Africa’s most industrialized nation was in recession, with unemployment reaching a new high of 34.4 percent in recent months.
In July, Zuma’s imprisonment sparked riots and looting that left at least 354 dead and hammered the economy.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said the violence was instigated to “provoke a popular insurrection”.
Decades of mismanagement have meanwhile corroded state utilities, causing water cuts and rolling blackouts that even interrupted the ANC’s own campaigning.
Polls suggest a majority of voters could for the first time turn against the party that has governed South Africa since the advent of democracy 27 years ago.
“It’s a watermark for the ANC, and also a watermark for South Africa,” said William Gumede of the Democracy Works think tank.