STEVEN FRIEDMAN: Pull up a chair to watch the ANC’s soap opera
The way we are governed for the next few years is likely to be shaped by the fight between factions to control key institutions, writes Steven Friedman
A good soap opera is filled with drama and has us eagerly debating the characters’ next moves. But soap operas also go on and on: the showdowns are delayed and the sub-plots keep us amused. Our most popular national soap opera, the ANC’s factional battle, may follow a similar pattern: the main story line may be less important than what happens around it. The ANC’s latest national executive committee (NEC) meeting produced great drama. High Noon seemed to have arrived — either Jacob Zuma would be removed by those who called for his head or his faction would get their wish and his opponents would bite the dust in a December shock much like last year’s. But, while nothing is impossible in politics, it seems likely that neither side is going anywhere and that more months of skirmishing lie ahead. This makes it important to look less at who is going to remove who and more at the way the battle is shaping the way we are governed. The NEC meeting confirmed a trend that has been visible for...
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