The ruling African National Congress (ANC) party and the country in general is at a crossroads and, I believe, South Africa faces the most important era in its history probably since the end of Apartheid. As the ANC prepares for the 53rd National Conference in Mangaung between the 16th - 20th December 2012, the current or new leadership that emerges from the elective conference will have the grave task of coming up with solutions to two fundamental issues that I believe are at the heart of the current social discontent within the country.

Firstly, the government needs to solve the problem of how to meet the basic needs of the people, and secondly, how to reduce the huge gap in social inequalities between the rich and poor that exists currently. How the ANC will combat these two challenges remains to be seen. But there is no doubt that the country is at a breaking point and requires strong leadership to prevent what I believe could be an Arab spring-style social uprising in the next decade or so.

The recent Marikana mining tragedy and ongoing strike action in various industries coupled with ongoing service delivery protests have sent two clear messages: firstly, that the majority working class people of South Africa are fed up with the current government not meeting their basic needs and, secondly, the huge social inequalities (gap between the rich and poor) that currently exists in the country will not be tolerated by people anymore. South Africa has reached breaking point and will never be the same again in the aftermath of the Marikana mining tragedy.

Growing anger over lack of service delivery, coupled with the huge inequalities that exist between the rich and poor has been simmering for some time and one could argue that the Marikana mining tragedy is just the tip of the iceberg of what could happen if the twin issues of reducing the social inequalities between the rich and poor and providing basic services to the people are not addressed urgently.

It is quite clear now that the majority of people who are working class have become disillusioned with the ruling ANC and are looking for an alternative party that will listen to their needs. In this regard recent developments have already taken place towards an alternative force working for the needs of the working class with the formation of a new movement called the Democratic Social Movement (DSM), which has emerged from the recent crisis in Marikana and other mines across the country¹.  The DSM is said to be a splinter group that broke away from the ANC in 1996 after the ruling party adopted what it calls “neo-liberal policies”².  The DSM is not linked to Julius Malema, who has also been calling for the nationalisation of the mines and the DSM has distanced itself from the expelled former ANC Youth League leader’s nationalisation dream, which it says is aimed at advancing the ambitions of aspirant black capital in the country, rather than creating a more equal society³.

According to the spokesperson for the Marxist orientated movement, Mametlwe Sebei they are “calling for the nationalisation of mines under the control of and management by workers and also said a meeting of ‘strike committees” at all mines had agreed to intensify the industrial action”⁴. 

Further, Sebei pointed out that the “movement had formulated “strike committees” in all shafts in an effort “to maximise the fighting capacity of workers and in the Rustenburg area had a coordinated structure with worker representatives from Lonmin, Impala and Anglo Platinum mines”⁵.  According to Sebei the plan was to attempt to shut down mines that are still operating, and it will coordinate a march to the Union Buildings next month to demand a minimum wage of R12 500 for miners⁶.  The long-term goal of DSM is to have the country’s mines nationalised⁷.  One can see that these new developments in the socio-political framework of the country cannot be taken lightly.

People tend to quickly forget the lessons from history, but every South African should ask themselves this question: did they ever think the likes of Libya and Egypt would ever be in the situation they find themselves today and would they like to be in the same situation? As South Africans we are not immune from these scenarios and as Mangaung approaches the gravity of the challenges ahead cannot be underestimated if South Africa is to continue to cling to the dream of a Rainbow Nation!

Written by Thabani Mdlongwa, Research Intern, Africa Institute of South Africa

Mdlongwa currently works for the Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) in Pretoria in the research department of the Sustainable Development Programme Unit. He has a Master’s Degree in Development Studies from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) and a Bachelor of Social Science Degree from Rhodes University. He has published a Policy Brief through AISA entitled 'Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a means of enhancing education in schools in South Africa: Challenges, benefits and recommendations'.

Notes:

1. Mkentane, L.2012. New Movement Threatens Mines. The New Age, 16 October, 2012.Johannesburg.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.