LETTER: Government of national unity on the horizon

The Taliban eventually won its battle against the world’s most powerful army because its soldiers had purpose and commitment. It was the same type of commitment that allowed the ANC to come to power in SA.

The Taliban’s challenge in victory is to find a new purpose that will keep its factions working together in a difficult situation, to move Afghanistan forward. SA’s current condition is proof that the ANC failed to do this.

The governing party’s increasingly destructive factionalism will continue to degrade the SA economy and increase social strife, while preventing any initiatives to significantly improve the situation. Meanwhile, the ANC’s predominantly rural voting base will continue to keep it in office. This will continue until it either implodes or an opposition emerges to drive it out.

Recent events, including the ANC’s nonpayment of staff and failure to nominate candidates for the upcoming municipal elections, indicate that implosion may be imminent. This will create a power vacuum requiring a government of national unity. Failure to put such a government in place quickly will leave the door open to an even more destructive populism.

James Cunningham 
Camps Bay

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