There is nothing that the ANC can do now to convince the electorate to vote for the party, which will lose power in 2024, according to some experts, who believe the ruling party has blown its chances to correct its mistakes.
The ANC has not only run out of ideas and keeps repeating the same promises, it is panicking because it has nothing new to offer the electorate. Instead, poverty and inequality have worsened since 1994, and the poor, who constitute the majority of its voters, are fed up with the party.
ANC promises
Even if the ANC came up with new promises in its annual 8th January Statement, it would be too late, said political analyst prof Ntsikelelo Breakfast, director of the Centre for Security, Peace and Conflict Resolution at Nelson Mandela University.
“It’s too late to come up with any anti-poverty strategy. The ANC blew all the opportunities it had to correct its mistakes in the last 30 years.
“It is in the belly of the beast. It is on the verge of losing power. I am not a prophet of doom, but the writing is on the wall,” Breakfast said.
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Inequality
In addition, during ANC rule the gap between the haves and have-nots has widened tremendously, instead of improving. The World Bank has reported that South Africa is the most unequal society in the world.
“The challenges of the ANC started in 2009, when its downward trajectory began. This was followed by a marked drop in its electoral performance in 2014, at the beginning of Jacob Zuma’s second term. “The 57% they received in 2019 should have been a wake-up call to the ruling party.
“Now it cannot spin anything. You cannot arm twist the electorate this time,” Breakfast said.
Losing the election
Analyst Sandile Swana said the ANC was over-heating at the top level because of the prospect of losing the 2024 election.
“The ANC’s engine is over-revving. They are tripping and intellectually they are out of ideas. They are panicked by the coming election, which they are going to lose,” Swana said.
On the basis of available information, the ANC had nothing new to offer the public that would improve the lives of ordinary people and help arrest its declining electoral performance, he said. The party’s track record of non-performance was entrenched.
“There is nothing more to say about the ANC electoral prospects. They are going to lose these elections,” Swana said. The trust of the masses in the ANC has been demonstrably declining, as shown by voter apathy among its own supporters.
Service delivery
He cited a recent statement by the ANC Youth League president, Collen Malatji, that the ANC’s political gains of 1994, characterised by visible service delivery progress, have reversed from 2011 to date. Similarly, the ruling party allowed lawlessness to become entrenched in the supply of electricity and water countrywide, by failing to stop illegal connections and the culture of non-payment.
This meant municipalities and Eskom’s revenue collection declined. Under ANC rule there has been an outbreak of cholera in places like Hammanskraal due to water shortages. This was in addition to the fact that 60% of all water supply reticulated nationally is unsuitable for human consumption.
Budget deficit
Swana said the country’s R550 billion per annum budget deficit mentioned by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in his medium-term budget statement late last year, was a cause for concern.
The income and tax revenue had been declining, while GDP had experienced insignificant growth and was unable to meet national expenditure patterns, he said. On top of that the population had been growing, while state capacity had been declining.
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