POLITICAL GAMES
STEVEN FRIEDMAN: Patronage group can split ruling party
‘Since the ANC won about 54% in 2016, a breakaway would need 5% to deprive it of a majority. It could be the breakaways who govern’
The greatest barrier to an ANC that boots out corruption rather than ministers who fight it may not be the strength of those who want to take over the state, but the loyalty of their opponents. President Jacob Zuma’s message to SA that "radical economic transformation" means firing ministers who look after the people’s money and protecting those who play games with the lives of people living on grants, has driven ANC leaders and activists to revolt. But what can they do to prevent the ANC and the government becoming the playthings of the patronage politicians? The answer is crucial: it may decide whether the attempt to turn patronage into the chief business of government is defeated before 2019, when voters can punish it at the polls. Because the real victims of this reshuffle are the people, particularly those who need the state to keep poverty at bay, the obvious way to defeat it would be to mobilise citizens to demand a government that serves them, not a clique that uses radical ...
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