Johannesburg – By all measures, South Africa’s political scene had a turbulent 2016. Many will look back at the year as one in which opposition parties shifted gears to capitalise from the infighting and factionalism that continues to mar the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC).
Reeling from the firing of former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene in 2015, the party had to navigate muddy waters this year after the damning Constitutional Court ruling on the Nkandla debacle in March, which found that President Jacob Zuma “failed to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution as the supreme law of the land”.
The judgment further inflicted damage on Zuma’s deeply divided ANC, forcing the President to apologise after a series of denials and attempts to shift blame.
The party had to recently deal with former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s explosive “State of Capture” report, which put a spotlight on a web of patronage involving the State, state-owned enterprises and the controversial Gupta family.
The ANC and Zuma’s unending problems for the first time this year united opposition parties in a common mission – to do everything possible to have Zuma removed as president. The Democratic Alliance (DA), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), United Democratic Movement (UDM) and the Congress of the People (Cope) led the charge.
However, several attempts by the DA to pass a vote of no confidence in Zuma failed in Parliament as the ANC used its majority muscle to protect the president. The EFF, on the other hand, boycotted Parliament whenever Zuma was in the house.
The red berets said they would not participate in Zuma’s question sessions as they did not regard him as a president. Cope had pulled out of Parliament in April, citing ANC MPs’ refusal to take action against Zuma over Nkandla as the reason.
The EFF boycotted Parliament whenever President Jacob Zuma was in the house.Picture: EPA
“The Congress of the People is determined not to make itself guilty through participation in activities that are in contempt of court. Our representatives cannot break their oath of office,” said party leaders.
Africa’s oldest liberation movement suffered another setback in the August local elections. Support for the ANC fell to below 60 percent of the votes for the first time since 1994.
Opposition parties, led by the DA and the EFF, took control of three key metros, Tshwane, the seat of government, Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape and the economic hub, Johannesburg. The ANC also lost West Rand’s Mogale City municipality in Gauteng to the DA.
The ruling managed to get an outright majority in only three metros, Mangaung in the Free State, eThekwini in Kwazulu-Natal and Buffalo City in the Eastern Cape.
The EFF, formed in 2013, emerged as the kingmaker in most of the 27 hung councils, and did not waste time in tabling demands to the desperate ANC that was in need of support in order to control councils.
Among the demands was that Zuma vacate office, the EFF offered six percent of its vote to the ANC to be able to amend the Constitution and expropriate land without compensation, nationalise mines, banks, implement free education immediately and eradicate e-tolls in Gauteng.
Another demand was that the governing party do away with the costly planned nuclear expansion programme and that it establish a commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture by the Gupta family.
EFF leader Julius Malema told reporters that his party had to choose “the better devil” and decided to support the DA in coalition after the ANC refused to commit to their demands during the marathon talks.
“We told them we were more than prepared to work with them and did not want to discuss positions. They welcomed our input and asked to go consult, they came back without an agreement to our tabled issues, except that there was a land expropriation bill already, but we told them we heard that before,” said Malema at the time.
“On the Guptas, they said they would rather establish an inquiry which investigates state capture and everyone affected by it.
“On Zuma, they said no. We told them there was no time for processes and that they needed to commit. So we could not find each other…we said it was going to be difficult for the EFF to enter into an agreement with Zuma who is presiding over a corrupt state.”
And so began an unprecedented constitution of some of the councils, with the ANC occupying opposition benches in many for the first time since the advent of democracy. The ANC national executive committee, its highest decision making body, said the party was “collectively responsible” for local elections outcome, shielding Zuma from blame.
The African Independent Congress (AIC), which claimed 200,000 votes, was also courted by the ANC to help it retain Ekurhuleni metro. Once a regional party fighting for the reincorporation of Matatiele into KwaZulu-Natal, the AIC branched into other provinces such as Gauteng. The party demanded infrastructure development in Matatiele and its reincorporation into KwaZulu-Natal before the end of this year, as a condition to lending support to the ANC.
ANC Gauteng provincial chairman, Paul Mashatile. Picture: Bongiwe Mchunu/Independent Media
In Gauteng, ANC provincial leaders led by Paul Mashatile came under fire for the embarrassment suffered in Tshwane and Johannesburg. The province’ leaders did not hide the fact that they believed that the local elections outcome could have favoured the ANC had Zuma “done the right thing” as calls for him to step down mounted.
Kwazulu-Natal, Zuma’s political stronghold, launched a counter attack against Gauteng leaders and demanded that the provincial executive committee be disbanded.
With the ANC’s 105th celebrations to be held in Soweto in January, it remains to be seen how Gauteng’s struggle for an ANC without Zuma will pan out in 2017.
Meanwhile, the EFF, DA and other opposition parties have vowed to up the ante in 2017 and put more heat on Zuma whose second term as ANC leader is set to draw to a close in December.