The ANC has failed to produce a simple list of its mayoral candidates for the upcoming local elections in November. Instead it has released a shortlist of the candidates in each city.
This is a fascinating development, but it requires some context.
The first thing you need to know is that historically, the ANC never used to announce mayoral candidates for the local government elections. They knew they were going to win almost everywhere, so they didn't have to stress. Regions would just choose their preferred mayor and that was that.
In 2016, the ANC lost its majorities in many metros. In 2024 they lost their majority nationally. They are seeing flames, and they are under pressure to turn the electoral decline around. This year, the party made two big announcements. First, the party would announce its mayoral candidates before the elections. Second, the choice of mayor in key metropolitan municipalities like Johannesburg would not simply be left to the regions. The national ANC would impose a formal process where they interviewed candidates and applied standards above and beyond just commanding support of ANC councillors.
This is fascinating because it shows how the loss of their majority has forced a change in the ANC's political culture. They actually have to _work_ for those council seats. They have to try to find their best who can take on the DA, EFF and MKP across the country.
We were expecting an announcement of who would be the mayoral candidates in mid-August. I had a meme ready to go and everything. But this article now says that the ANC have still failed to select the mayoral candidates, so instead they have released their current shortlist for each city. The process will drag on while other parties mayoral candidates are busy campaigning.
What this tells us is that there are real tensions within the party. Real reforms result in pushback because you are destroying a system that previously served someone very well. The party is trying to move toward a system that is more open and competitive, but they are struggling to change.
Political parties are institutions. The rules they use to distribute power determine the characteristics of the party. The ANC is undergoing a process of reform to avoid certain destruction. It is trying to become more "inclusive" in the sense of Acemoglu. But it is currently failing, and if it isn't careful, the fight over the reforms will destroy the party. At the same time, the reason the ANC is struggling is also because it is genuinely a more diverse and pluralistic party than the DA, EFF, MKP and ActionSA. In those parties, the leadership can just choose the candidates without much real infighting from various factions.
All of this is happening because the ANC have been losing elections and votes for a decade now. Whether the ANC reforms or dies, this is a beautiful example of democracy in action.
The comparative study of political parties as institutions is the secret to understanding South African politics at a deeper level than "Black and White". This article covers an interesting episode in the story of the ANC party as an evolving political institution.
Posted by Top_Lime1820