OP-ED: The ANC’s representational crises By Raymond Suttner RaymondSuttner
The ANC led by President Cyril Ramaphosa may secure a majority or increase its share of the votes in 8 May’s national elections. However, we are faced with a problem whatever these results may be. If it is again chosen to lead the country, on its own or in a coalition, the ANC will not enjoy widespread trust or increased credibility as the country’s leadership, because its reputation and standing are in tatters.
The third element of the representational crisis is what the ANC itself signifies, the cultural meanings associated with the organisation that are diffused and understood about the organisation. In earlier days the ANC and its supporters shared an understanding of the symbolism of raising the colours of the ANC in a period of illegality as evoking defiance, freedom and respect for all human beings.
Certainly, in the abstract, experience is a very important factor. It would normally work in its favour, that it does not have to learn processes of governing afresh and possesses institutional memory. But claims that it is trustworthy evoke justified cynicism. This is not a generic cynicism about politicians, but what people have come to know about the party that many once trusted.The ANC has difficulty convincing the voter of its ethical reliability and trustworthiness.
The ANC of the heroic era of struggle against apartheid had a strong connection with the masses, and families prayed for the leaders in exile and in prison. They earned broad support. They had this connection because the.Twenty-five years of post-apartheid South Africa have seen many ANC leaders lose much of the previous markers, notably their connections with the localities from which they came.
Such an ideological vision is knowledge derived from listening to the masses. This listening is not the same as conducting opinion polls but listening in the context of organising, connecting with the problems people voice about the conditions of their lives and trying to find the actual causes in order to remedy these. Regrettably, the cause of some of the hardships that people now face, relate to ANC malgovernance or misappropriation of funds.
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