Ensuring good governance in South Africa

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) — the organisation that led the liberation of the country from apartheid — turned 100 years yesterday. The ANC and South Africans have done much to be proud of since the formal end of apartheid in 1994. The country has put in place democratic institutions which are trusted by South Africans and have credibility in the international community.

There is a strong civil society, including an independent media and a fiercely critical trade union movement. And disputes between the ANC and opposition parties and civil society — on everything from freedom of the press to the legacy of racism and apartheid in society and the economy — happen within public forums or established legal processes. While it might not always be pretty or dignified, South Africa is a democracy where activists are part of the development and implementation of policies, despite the overwhelming majority the ANC has historically secured in national and local elections.

However, the ANC has also struggled to make the transition from a liberation movement to being a good governing party, as evidenced by growing corruption in the state and cases of personal enrichment among its leaders. Vast investment in education, among other social and economic development programmes, has not produced necessary results, in part because of an ineffective and sometimes politically-protected bureaucracy. The result is persistent, unsustainably high levels of unemployment and crime, which have deterred much-needed foreign investment. On balance, the ANC can take much credit for what South Africa has achieved, but it has not always been willing to take responsibility for what has gone wrong. The ANC must enforce and entrench good governance and improve the living standards of the majority.