Last week the people of the Alexandra’s township embarked on protest that was meant to shut down Alexandra and Sandton, in a bid to make “known” the people’s grievances against poor service delivery and the failure of 25 years of democracy to deliver much needed economic upliftment to township also known as “Gomorrah”. I have said it before that the occurrence of the protest was of no surprise given that the election season is often characterised by a spike in service delivery-related protests. 

However, the events that shaped the protest hold important political significance, for one, Alexandra besides Soweto holds of the strongest historical symbols of the dehumanisation of Africans through the commodification of their labour to feed the beast of Capitalism. Moreover, Alexandra’s proximity to Sandton, the richest square mile in Africa, highlights the brutality of a capitalist system that was supported by a legal system that gave legality to levels of poverty and inequality in South Africa. 

As a result, while the government can ignore other service delivery protests, the Alexandra shut down was one that all political formations could not ignore, especially, in a time where South Africans are busy reflecting on the 25 years of “liberation” and future of South Africa. In many ways the Alex shut down was a critical test for parties such as the Democratic Alliance (DA) that controls Johannesburg, the ANC that currently controls the provincial government and is the national ruling party and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) who were the kingmakers in Pretoria, Mogale City and Johannesburg and are looking to repeat that feat in the provincial and national polls.

The 2016 local government results and many polls seem to suggest that the ANC is likely to lose more votes from its current 53% holding over the electorate support in Gauteng. If this were to occur, the ANC would unlikely carry  60% of the national vote but it would mark a turn in South African politics, where the ruling party neither controls the legislative, administrative, commercial capital cities in the country, as well the commercial hubs of the country, Gauteng and Western Cape. In many ways, such as result would mark the ANC as a rural party, with little to offer in way of urban supporters. 

However, let us hold on, as much as this picture may be great for opposition parties that have long wanted to see the back of the ANC in the Union Building, they may need to wait at least 5-10 more years. 

While Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba work in recovery lost money from the days of ANC looting in local government and some steps have been taken to rooting out corruption in Africa’s financial centre, Mashaba and the DA have failed to rid the DA of their perception that is a party where the interests of its traditional base, white liberals, continues to hold centre stage at the detriment of poor black South Africans. His failure to meet with Alex residents and his flight from the heat of the storm on Monday, highlight that DA may not be ready to come down to people’s level and engage them on heated issues. His failure to meet the people he took an oath to be mayor for, was failure of decisive leadership and again, the thorn on the side of the DA, has come back, that beyond it failing to be pro-black, it has failed to be pro-poor and unlike the ANC and the EFF, its connections to the poor are just but a pipe dream. 

Surely, the DA knows that the low turnout in townships such as Alex, Soweto and Vosloorus, gave it the keys to Joburg and Pretoria. Their rejection of the ANC was not an acceptance of the DA and its ideological policy position. DA won on the backs of its ability to bring out its base and thus win the metros power a popular vote aided by parties such as EFF and the IFP.

Moreover, the 2016 local government elections came at the height of scandals that riddles the Zuma administration and the ANC at large but this time around it is no longer Zuma’s face that will be on the ballot paper but President Cyril Ramaphosa. This has some implication for the DA and other movements.

Ramaphosa’s victory in Nasrec basically saved South Africa from further political and economic turmoil that would not only define the rest of Zuma’s presidency but the future of South African politics. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s victory at the ANC elective conference would have fuelled political instability and policy uncertainty, while also making real the first time in the short history of a democratic South Africa, the chance for coalition politics on a national scale. Now, we have seen the mess of coalition politics on a local government level, and it is safe to say that it would not be a bed of roses and while ANC would be out of power, policy paralyses would define any government that would have as the chief partners, the DA and the EFF. 

Ramaphosa’s national stature, his ilk as a businessman and the fact he grew up in the not so dusty streets of Soweto, make him a powerful electioneering tool for the ANC and boy has his allowed himself to be used as the messenger of a “new dawn” similar to the manner Nelson Mandela was used to spread the message of peace and reconciliation. Many people I have engaged stated that while they did not support Zuma, they would not find it hard to vote for Ramaphosa’s ANC and this should have the DA worried. It is my belief that Ramaphosa will manage to get the ANC base out to voting stations on 8 May and if the likes of Soweto and Alexandra come out, we can be sure to see the ANC maintain in control over Gauteng and the EFF maintaining their current position in the province. Ramaphosa’s decision to meet Alex residence and the failure of Mashaba to the same, speaks volumes and can never be ignored.

There is power in making appearances during the election season, ask Hillary Clinton about how her failure to visit the blue belt states cost her the presidency of the United States. It really is true that when you are out of sight you become out of mind. 

This is a state no party can afford and the DA has played its cards wrong. Even if on a factual basis the ANC is more at fault for the that define Alex today, they control the message that highlights the DA’s poor pro-black and township stance and the DA has in effect failed the most important election PR test. 

My bet is that it, the DA, will get punished for this badly and it must look no one else other than itself and the status quo of its failed township politics that dates to its former leader, Tony Leon. Ramaphosa magic or not the township curse still grips Mmusi Maimane’s DA

-JP