OPINION: 'Broad church' politics under pressure after election 2019 | DanielSilke
The ANC will have to decide if it fears the rise of the EFF so much that it panders to its pressures – or whether it sees the bigger picture of the necessity for more centrist and market-friendly initiatives to kickstart growth, writesDespite arguments from Ace Magashule to the contrary, Cyril Ramaphosa has extended the shelf-life of the ANC for another term.
The message from voters was clear – the brand gets one more chance with a leader that was considerably more popular than the party. If this leader stumbles , things will go 'south' rather rapidly. Bucking this trend was a major reward for better governance in the Western Cape where the DA – arguably at their weakest given troublesome issues of leadership relating to Patricia de Lille and the water crisis amongst others – emerged with a notable victory despite some minor slippage.
Perhaps too, we should not be too surprised at this development. After five years of heightened racial invectives and rhetoric from the EFF coupled with a more radical drift under Zuma and a muddied debate around land expropriation, a segment of the white was feeling more insecure.
The beginnings of a more fringe-type of balkanisation of the centrist political parties is not a new phenomenon globally. In Europe where economic strains, immigration and religious and national identity play an increasing vocal role, establishment parties are finding similar issues in holding onto their fringes as more populist parties become more attractive.
Political centrism – whether its quasi-socialist of the ANC or quasi-Liberal under the DA has taken a moderate beating in this election. But, bringing voters back to the centre will only occur under conditions of the improvement of the lives of the citizens of South Africa – all of them.Deep rooted economic insecurity, inequality, endemic unemployment, governance failure and deep-state corruption undermine nation-building and have put a brake on the rainbow nation growth.
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