The nation of South Africa voted in Parliamentary elections on May 29th; the party that gains more than 50% of the vote elects the next president. The African National Congress (ANC), the party of former President Nelson Mandela, has ruled South Africa for three decades since the end of white minority rule and seems set to lose its majority for the first time.
After 30 years, the ANC may have fallen victim to the maladies of many previous political parties that evolved from colonial struggles. The ANC has been wracked with accusations of corruption scandals, poor management, and the inability to deliver on much of its promises to the nation’s largely black community.
As a consequence, many people have become frustrated with the party that formed the first democratic government after the demise of the apartheid régime minority rule was overturned.
Before I go further, I must remind you, my readers, that the Western Powers, the United States, England, France, and most other European Nations supported white minority rule all across Africa where it existed, not just in South Africa.
They also branded Nelson Mandela and the ANC a terrorist and terrorist organization, respectively.
The ANC will most likely receive the largest share of the votes, allowing it to remain the most powerful political force in the country. Consequently, it will still be able to form a coalition government in which President Cyril Ramaphosa will retain the presidency.
According to Reuters, after 42% of the votes have been tabulated, the ANC has received 42.7%, while the Democratic Alliance (DA) is in second place with 23.6%. uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new party led by former president Jacob Zuma, was at 10% and eating into ANC support, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, his home province and a traditional stronghold of the ruling party.
MK had also overtaken the left-leaning Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) led by Julius Malema, currently the third biggest party in parliament, at 9.5%.
The Democratic Alliance, the party that is the second most powerful to date, is the party largely of the white upper middle class who benefitted under apartheid rule; it has significant support from Indians within the country.
It behooves the ANC [not] to ally with the Democratic Alliance to retain power, as it would represent a slap in the face of all the freedom fighters who have sacrificed to see the end of apartheid rule in South Africa.
The worst thing Cyril Ramaphosa could do to keep power is to ally himself with the Democratic Alliance, a party some of whose supporters long for a civil war to return the nation to the dark days of minority rule just three decades past.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have solid plans, not just for South Africa but for the reunification of the entire African continent to become one nation again. This has caused Western nations to caricature him as a clown unworthy of attention.
The real clown is not only the Western powers but the black Africans who would cast a vote for the corrupt ANC or, worse, elect the Lilly-white Democratic Alliance to return them to white rule.
Melema advocates for nationalizing South African mines and Banks, as well as lands supposedly owned by white South Africans.
These ideas could lead to economic disaster if not approached correctly. Governments should not be in the business of owning banks but should heavily regulate them on behalf of all the people. The mines should be nationalized and returned to the South African people. The Government should appropriate the land, and the white settlers should be given the right to use it and continue whatever they have going on with them.
Malema and the EFF are worthy of the attention of the South African people.
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Mike Beckles is a former Police Detective, businessman, freelance writer, black achiever honoree, and creator of the blog mikebeckles.com.