Elections: Change is good, but let this be the beginning for SA - not the end

As the dusts begin to settle – hopefully not too temporarily – following a series of post-electoral multiparty deal-making sessions (negotiations?), the emerging sociopolitical and economic landscape will give us the latest version of the New South Africa. It will not be the last version, of course; the big change is expected to come following the 2024 general elections.

The one slowly emerging now is a "Version Two" of coalition governments at local level right across the country. Version One happened following the 2016 local government elections, bringing with it much chaos characterised by levels of deception and mudslinging in municipal chambers, as deals were agreed to – not all of them with the best interests of the electorate at heart – and seldom adhered to.

We should expect, and hope for the sake of South Africa, that Version Two of coalition governance will bring with it higher levels of political and ethical maturity, especially in those parties that were involved in Version One and would have seen how material interests, often those of political bosses tightly linked to access to personal and party funding, as well control of the increasingly endemic culture of patronage in South African politics, risk defining who we are as a country.

We should hope that the fresh drive and a level of political naiveté that underpins the determination of new political players to change the world will ensure that the interests of citizens and residents across the country finally get to inform political action at local government level and breed more responsiveness to the needs of ratepayers and the general population.

If greed and the old game of political survival at any cost – costs that are often borne by ordinary citizens – end up defining the actions of those who are new in the system, then we should expect South Africa to continue sliding inexorably towards a place only Afro-pessimists imagined right from the moment it became clear that the erstwhile National Party was preparing an environment to hand over power to the then banned African National Congress, back in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

If those Afro-pessimists had placed multimillion-rand bids on South Africa becoming what it has become, in recent years, they would be in a place where they no longer need to work for a cent for the rest of their natural lives.

As things stand, placing their gains in South Africa would be tantamount to a gambler who misses the point where they must walk away with the windfall, following a jackpot, or risk losing it all.

The problem with South Africa, or the joy of it - as with any country brand - is that there are too many perspectives from which to appreciate it, and that people often focus on what is of immediate material or emotional interest to them without seeing the bigger picture.

Those who were here during apartheid will either view the country from the perspective of "high-quality infrastructure and systems" that worked at the time, or from the perspective of apartheid pain. The so-called "born frees" also have their diverse, even conflicting, perspectives. These are often defined by the material conditions under which they have grown up since the end of apartheid.

The role of skin colour has gradually diminished where material comforts are intact, but not where the young – mostly black – South Africans see their material conditions either remaining the same or having worsened when compared to those of their ageing parents.

None of these perspectives is necessarily wrong. Each one of then should be appreciated for what it is. But they should also be enriched with a broader view – beyond one’s little world – of the evolution of South Africa over the past three decades. As I write this, the three main global credit ratings agencies - Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch - are already circling over South Africa. It is hard to imagine any of them giving a better credit rating to South Africa than they did the last time.

Whatever perspective one holds of South Africa – especially where it concerns narrow perspectives buttressed only by an individual’s immediate emotional, political or material interests – it is important to enrich it with a broader view of where the country used to be, 15 or more years ago, to where it is today.

A bird’s eye view, one from a safe distance, will show that things are far from getting better.

It is a bitter truth many will push back against, informed only by their narrow perspectives. Levels of criminality have risen; many communities across the country live in fear at night. People fear for their children, especially daughters, who can be picked up at gun/knifepoint right outside their school gates.

Many who can leave are doing so. As the tax base continues to deteriorate, the desperate national government will continue looking in places previously off-bounds to look for more sources of revenue. Many know that the economy cannot forever rely on favourable commodity prices alone to maintain a balance of trade.

The changes that we see happening following the 2021 local government elections are good. But they’re just the beginning of an evolutionary phase in the history of South Africa that will require balance, emotional intelligence, maturity and ethical grounding among those who will be leading the country’s local governance over the next period.

Citizens can longer afford to remain too trusting and uninterested in what goes on in their municipalities. They will have to stand up, stay alert, and flex their muscles where they need to in order to be active participants in the changes that must happen. Else they will be left out again while those in office continue to share the spoils. We have been there before. We no longer have the luxury to remain or return there.??