South Africa’s democracy has come of age — now is the time for transformational leadership

Learning to work together at the highest level of power is essential, especially now that President Cyril Ramaphosa has unveiled the final shape of our new government of national unity. But are our politicians mature enough to provide South Africans with the leadership we need?

The South African national government election in May 2024 had the lowest voter turnout since 1994 – about 59%. One of the reasons appears to be the lack of faith that South Africans have in political parties to effect the change they want to see.

According to the most recent 2023 SA Reconciliation Barometer, published by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, just under 50% of the country thought South Africa was somewhat or very divided. Three-quarters of the participants, across all race groups, agreed however that a united South Africa was desirable – and what they truly wanted.

This suggests that while South Africans may lack trust in their politicians, they do hope for change and wish they would work together to effect the changes we want to see in our country.

The GNU, part two

South Africa’s new coalition government was welcomed across a wide spectrum of observers from the time it was first mentioned as a possibility. This was especially the case among investors who hoped for a more stable economic environment.

Some saw it as South Africa’s democracy finally coming of age. “If this election tells us anything,” wrote one columnist for The New York Times, “it is that the work of building a true multiracial democracy has really just begun.”

And as many point out, there is a lot to be done. Nearly a third of working-age South Africans are unemployed. In addition, half our population is living below the national upper poverty line, with 25% experiencing some level of food poverty. Inequality is among the worst in the world.

According to the Reconciliation Barometer, fewer than a third believe that job creation, personal safety and inequality have improved since 1994. The expanding divide between rich and poor is listed as the leading source of division (36%) among South Africans, followed by political party affiliation (19%) and race (13%) in third, surprising to some.

But more resoundingly, South Africans are losing their trust in leadership and government. “Never before in the course of two decades has the Barometer found such profound distrust in leadership, coupled with little confidence in the critical public institutions that form the foundation for a functional democracy,” reads the report.

To address the above challenges effectively South Africa needs transformational leaders. It makes us wonder: can our politicians provide the transformational leadership that South Africans need?

What the coalition government must get right

Both the ANC and the DA, as well as the smaller members of the government of national unity (GNU), will have to set aside the posturing and territorial struggles for the greater good. There are five areas or themes that we at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, inspired by the leadership of our first democratic government, believe they will have to focus on. These are:

• Building an inspirational leadership: Founded on values and principles taught to us by Mandela, inspired leaders can reduce the trust deficit between everyday South Africans and our leaders. As the Reconciliation Barometer points out, the ongoing saga of State Capture – with perpetrators seeming to operate with impunity – has cost South Africans their faith in government. What’s more, it may explain the growing political alienation of the youth, who do not see their concerns being addressed by the state. Many have accused young people of being apathetic about political systems, which suggests a lack of interest – but a more accurate view could be that young people have lost faith in the current political system;
• Strengthening our governance structures: Our Constitution has been hailed as among the finest in the world, but poor implementation, failures in service delivery (Eskom looms large), and the infiltration of our state, the police and other branches of government by those determined to line their own pockets, threaten our institutions and undermine our democracy. One way to address these failures is to encourage the participation of communities, trade unions, students and academia. We should enable citizens to serve as active participants in our state, rather than relegating their participation to that of mere voters;
• Forging greater social cohesion: In this regard, our economic inequalities remain the biggest obstacle. We have policies and the means to shrink this divide, including broad-based black economic empowerment strategies. Regardless of its shortcomings – primarily creating a new class of ridiculously wealthy – BEE cannot be scratched, but should rather be improved. Its objectives remain key to the country’s future;
• Building an economy that addresses structural unemployment: We simply cannot have an economy that leaves a third of the population without work, and half the youth without the means to build better lives for themselves. We can fix our economy through a robust industrial policy that focuses on industries that attract young people, among other measures. The construction and manufacturing industries have to be rebuilt. This will require an alignment between the likes of the Reserve Bank, Treasury and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, as well as others such as science and technology and education; and
• We need to build an effective, competent developmental state: This includes capacitating the civil service with a layer of professional technocrats who know how to implement in a complex environment and how to drive inclusive change. This will also mean incorporating trade unions, civil society actors and the private sector as partners to strengthen the delivery of services.

 This new iteration of GNU is perhaps the closest we’ve come to the governance that Mandela had imagined. In bringing together rival groups, it may be our best chance in 30 years to build the rainbow nation that Desmond Tutu and Mandela had imagined. They must together advance the transformation of our society, address the deep rifts and inequalities inherited from our apartheid past and create a more inclusive economy.

This is what South Africans want. It is time for our leaders, like our democracy, to mature. It is time to set aside sectarian interests and build the nation which we had not so long ago hoped we would become.

Professor Faizel Ismail is the director of the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town.

Source: This opinion piece was first published by the Daily Maverick