GARETH VAN ONSELEN: The devolution of our constitutional democracy

Let us paint an ungenerous picture: we are governed by a criminal syndicate and led by a compromiser and appeaser; our economy is decimated and headed towards collapse; there is an accountability crisis and a general and pervasive hostility towards the idea of any opposition that does not genuflect before the ANC’s worldview; and on the margins, the rise of fascism and the politics of violence and intimidation.

It is tempting to say SA’s constitutional democracy has “matured” over the past 25 years, but has it, really?..