[RomanCandle]

Looking at the results of the Local Government Election the setback suffered by the ANC has been largely overplayed. The DA (Democratic Alliance) which is the official opposition and a descendant of the liberal DP party has been lauded for retaining governance of the Western Cape (66.6% the only metro where they exceeded 50%) and for adding a few notable metros to their CV such as the mentioned Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape (the home province of the Xhosa tribe and a staunchly ANC province) which is a symbolic blow to the ANC, and Tshwane (Pretoria - 43%). The areas and metros that the DA gained were mostly won by a very narrow margin and both parties are now looking for coalition partners among the smaller parties in order to gain the outright majority needed.

Johannesburg went to the ANC and was one of the few places one by the ANC where they did not achieve over 50% elsewhere they typically achieved a majority of over 50% losing about 9% of the votes they had in the previous elections dropping 63% to 54%. The DA gained only around 3% votes percentage increase (24% to 27%)

Who benefited from the majority of migrated ANC votes? The EFF. A new party started by previous ANC Youth League President Julias Malema who was instrumental in leading the Youth League to deposing then President Thabo Mbeki and installing the current Jacob Zuma back in 2008. Now having fallen out with Zuma he started a new even more radical party named the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) whose goal is to nationalize the countries mines, financial institutions and virtually any other industry that they can get their hands on as well as evict white farmers from their farms without compensation and hand the farms over to blacks. No doubt EFF supporting blacks that is. What is notable is that in 2011 the EFF did not even exist and now they have accounted for just over 8% of the total votes.

This does not mean that the black population are turning away from the ANC or that by and large they disapprove of the rampant corruption within the ruling party. It is really a way of trying to teach the ANC a lesson. They feel left out and lied to. However if the ANC can sort out their internal power struggles and start dishing out more free stuff like RDP houses and "free" electricity, land and cushy jobs they can probably retake their lost constituencies easily. Unlikely given the circumstances.

The real beneficiaries of ANC lost votes have been and will be the EFF. Clearly the majority are not interested in good governance considering that the DA has do a reasonably good job of running the Western Cape where they have been in power for several years now. An interesting take on the whys and wherefores can be found in a book by notable traditional Zulu leader and "Sangoma" (Shaman) Credo Mutwa. The book is"Indaba My Children" nd the section quoted is specifically page 655-656.

Quote:

“Many of those interested in events in Africa today are surprised that the new emergent African states do not settle for the perfect democratic form of government with a recognized opposition, but that they all turn into dictatorships.

The truth is that the black man cannot fathom how a country can be governed by two enemies constantly at one another’s throats. Such a country can never be happy and stable.

To a black man all disagreements must end in blows and secession. The black man has not the shallow flexible soul that most races have, and to be ruled by two squabbling parties is as alien and repugnant to his mind, as his way of doing things is repugnant to the European mind.

A black man can give his loyalty only to one set of rulers, who rule in oneness of purpose for better or for worse. Sooner or later they find the dual loyalty encouraged by a two-party system not only clumsy and unwieldy, but fatal as well, because to an African a member of the opposition is not merely the man who holds dissenting political views – he is a deadly enemy who must be killed.

Things like ‘friendly rivalry’ and an ‘agreement to disagree’ have no place in the mind of an African. We either hate or we love; we either agree or we disagree and fight to the death.

The black man has a strong parent, or fetish complex, dating from the days when a community could produce only one brave man at a time, who could challenge a savage beast with a bone-tipped spear.

The whole community then looked upon such a hero for its protection. Even today we still choose that one man or woman who will be our living totem pole, our god on earth, our parent symbol; who is the embodiment of all our aspirations and our unity, and to whom we shall give all our love and loyalty and around whom we shall rally in times of evil. This person will be our nation, the symbol of all our ideals and all our dreams. He or she shall be part of us and we shall be part of him or her.

Therefore in the mind of the African, there can only be one ruler to whom all loyalty and love is given, and not two. One is unity and two are disunity.”