Can the new South Africa be reborn? By this I do not mean some romantic notion whereby we return to all that was good in 1994, minus Madiba. I mean a return to a situation with possibilities to remedy what went wrong and rebuild the opportunities for a democracy where we all have the possibility to realise our aspirations as human beings, living together and inculcating values of care and concern for one another.

I used to write about the need for a broad alliance of South Africans to rebuild what had been broken (mainly in the Jacob Zuma era) and return us to a country with the opportunity for all to realise themselves within a social order where infrastructure is repaired, power works and clean water and healthcare is being supplied or in the process of being provided to all, along with a range of other necessities.

I wrote a lot about the type of relationship between popular organisation and representative government, a popular force which is not very strong now, but is important to have as a vehicle for participation by people, augmenting their periodic voting.

When I wrote on this, I also mentioned the importance of business as a powerful force that was needed to be part of a “new beginning”. I have no connection to business, though there were others with such influence who did promote similar ideas.

I repeatedly stressed the importance of business, because it is one of the most coherent forces in South Africa, with an interest in stability and in seeing an end to crime and corruption.

Since that time and the emergence of the Government of National Unity (GNU), discussed below, business has joined forces with government with positive results in repairing infrastructure and other common action. Operation Vulindlela, in particular, has served to remedy critical problems in the provision of power, aspects of the water problem and other areas of concern. (https://www.stateofthenation.gov.za/operation-vulindlela).

The role of business demonstrated that we do not have to wait for the moment when the popular becomes a decisive force, but that business, in some respects, has started to address many of the issues that are of critical importance to the poor and others affected by disruptions of various kinds or absence of necessities of life.

But some new things have happened, and it's important to ask if one is looking with the right lens, whether perhaps the way some of us look at what is happening around us misses important things. We are living in a time when government fails to do that which it is charged with performing.

Some have the resources to bring legal action, but in very many cases there are interventions to perform the tasks that have been unattended. In some cases there are sections of business arranging for directing of traffic when traffic lights are out, other sections of business have notices in some areas saying they have attended to potholes in the roads. Some cases see community involvement in policing questions beyond statutory policing fora.

In some communities, residents are involved in caring for the pavements, grass and trees (where the area has these). NGOs and religious bodies are involved – sometimes without publicity. In the case of the Gift of the Givers it has stepped in and provided boreholes or power for hospitals or poor communities. I am sure there are many more examples.

What this illustrates is that it is not necessary to wait for the state. The state should be doing its job, but where it does not do so, it is good that others exercise their agency to better the conditions of communities or to ensure that crucial services can function.

The GNU

The government of national unity [GNU] has created something new.  It would be an exaggeration to depict it as the basis for a rebirth of the dreams that some of us had of a “New South Africa”, freed from apartheid oppression, where all human beings would have their dignity respected and have opportunities to advance to the best of their abilities.

I wrote, initially, with some support for the birth of the GNU, not because it represented exactly what I wanted to see in government, but because there is a need in South Africa for stability. There is a need for the support of business and the markets, for any new government that may appear on the scene, and there was and remains considerable support for the GNU, from business and the markets. (See https://www.polity.org.za/article/how-and-why-i-plan-to-support-the-gnu-part-one-2024-06-24).

I indicated at the time that it's not the type of language that I normally use, but I now recognise that the problem of South Africa's debt; the problem of inflation at the time, which has improved but remains serious; the problem of a range of areas of infrastructure in the country; the collapse of water systems in many parts of the country; and the energy crisis leading to load shedding, which luckily now has not been a feature for some months and hopefully will be gone.

Many of these issues are being tackled by Operation Vulindlela, referred to above.

There are many other problems that remain - everyone knows about the widespread criminality and inadequate policing system, since it affects rich and poor, those living in mansions and in shacks.

Among other issues, there is also the problem of housing. The same situation remains in Marshalltown where a devastating fire in a derelict building led to many deaths last year. The same conditions of danger still persist, with another fire occurring with loss of four lives a few days ago. The city of Johannesburg, among other cities, has not paid adequate attention to the needs of the poor for adequate housing.

Some categories of people remain perpetually unsafe, wherever they may be – women especially, despite our Constitution’s emphasis on gender equality and the courts continually railing against patriarchal violence and conduct.

The same holds for foreign-born Africans, irrespective of their status, having the required documentation or not (often because of bureaucratic delay). They often face vigilante or police violence, driving them from their shelter and other humiliations - this xenophobia is part of the vocabulary of a minister of state, Gayton McKenzie.

The need to return to the hopes and values espoused in 1994 was not the reason for the formation of the GNU. That was not the reason that brought political parties together in 2024.

The impetus for creating the GNU was the collapse, more or less, of the ANC as an electorally dominant force when it received below 50% of the vote in the May general elections. Even before that, the writing was on the wall as the ANC lost elections in four major metros in 2021: Tshwane, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Nelson Mandela Bay, among other setbacks.

What had happened in this period is that prior to the GNU, and now not directly part of the GNU, remains an ongoing problem - that is that the combinations that created new metros were based on fragile alliances and coalitions that generally or often collapsed.

They created serious problems of governance because one or other of the more powerful minorities did not want to see the other one(s) take power. There were manipulations which saw parties with only 5% of the vote providing the mayor for Johannesburg or Ekurhuleni or some other place.

There were constant changes. There was no continuity. One had a situation a few days ago where the member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for infrastructure said he had not heard of water problems in Alexandra and other townships, when in fact people have been without water for long periods - intermittently and without stable supply - for years. The only references I could find are, regrettably, behind paywalls.

Raymond Suttner is an Emeritus Professor at the University of South Africa and a Research Associate in the English Department at University of the Witwatersrand. He served lengthy periods as a political prisoner. His writings cover contemporary politics, history, and social questions. His twitter handle is @raymondsuttner.