Accountability and responsibility to act on citizen’s needs is a vital characteristic in a functioning democracy, said political analyst Professor Steven Friedman at a public lecture on the future of democracy in South Africa, in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Friedman argued that South Africa is a relatively young democracy and that the country is naturally going through challenges that are testing the nature and strength of its democratic institutions.

He highlighted the debate around media freedom and the recent Public Protector report, which identified maladministration on the part of National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele and Minister of Public Works Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde, as being examples of these democratic challenges.

Despite the controversy surrounding media freedom, Freidman argued that the media is still largely unchecked, unregulated and retains its free status. The way in which the relevant authorities handle the Public Protector’s report, however, remains to be seen and is crucial to the credibility of the country’s democratic institutions that provide checks and balances on governing power structures.

Freidman went on to argue that although accountability had improved after the Thabo Mbeki era, this accountability was misplaced as the country’s politicians were accountable to members within the ruling party and not necessarily accountable and responsive to people at the grassroots level.

This, he argued, was one of the reasons for political infighting within the ruling African National Congress, as well as for an increase in service delivery protests in the country. Accountability and responsibility, therefore, need to be further developed to include the whole of society and not just the ruling elite, he stated.

“There is a turbulent road ahead for South Africa’s democracy; however, this turbulence is necessary for change and without change there can be no democratic progress,” Friedman concluded.