Fading interest in ‘English’ concepts such as ‘liberal democracy’ may explain the DA’s glass ceiling
05 September 2024 - 15:57
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Though the department of statistics has admitted that the 2022 census was inaccurate and therefore a colossal waste of money, are there any valuable insights that can be gleaned from it? (“Too much at stake to repeat Census 2022 mistakes”, August 28).
About 8.7% of SA families appear to speak English as their first language. As first languages condition thought and cultural norms, demographically this should mean a fading interest in such “English” concepts as the rule of law and “liberal democracy”, possibly explaining the DA’s glass ceiling at about 22% of the vote.
The largest first language is Zulu at about 24.4%, followed by Xhosa at 16.3%. Neither of these ethnicities freely embraces English values, being eventually defeated by military force and encouraged to embrace their own cultures during the nationalist years.
As their collective trauma and resentment remain deeply ingrained, it should not be surprising that the Zulu-based MK party, now the official opposition, is opposed to SA’s “Westminster style” constitution, nor that African middle-class voters, while angry with the ANC, could not bring themselves to vote DA in the most recent election.
While there is confusion and infighting on the opposition benches, in John Hlophe the opposition may have found their SA Arminius. Such anticonstitutional forces can be expected to grow with population increase, a common occurrence in other former European African colonies.
The SA political scene can be likened to a tug-of-war, with the Western Cape and its more democratic traditions pulling in one direction and KwaZulu-Natal/Eastern Cape pulling in the other, with Gauteng left dangling in the middle. If my hypothesis is correct, the Gauteng marker will move inexorably towards KwaZulu-Natal/Eastern Cape over time.
James Cunningham Camps Bay
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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LETTER: Anticonstitutional forces will grow
Fading interest in ‘English’ concepts such as ‘liberal democracy’ may explain the DA’s glass ceiling
Though the department of statistics has admitted that the 2022 census was inaccurate and therefore a colossal waste of money, are there any valuable insights that can be gleaned from it? (“Too much at stake to repeat Census 2022 mistakes”, August 28).
About 8.7% of SA families appear to speak English as their first language. As first languages condition thought and cultural norms, demographically this should mean a fading interest in such “English” concepts as the rule of law and “liberal democracy”, possibly explaining the DA’s glass ceiling at about 22% of the vote.
The largest first language is Zulu at about 24.4%, followed by Xhosa at 16.3%. Neither of these ethnicities freely embraces English values, being eventually defeated by military force and encouraged to embrace their own cultures during the nationalist years.
As their collective trauma and resentment remain deeply ingrained, it should not be surprising that the Zulu-based MK party, now the official opposition, is opposed to SA’s “Westminster style” constitution, nor that African middle-class voters, while angry with the ANC, could not bring themselves to vote DA in the most recent election.
While there is confusion and infighting on the opposition benches, in John Hlophe the opposition may have found their SA Arminius. Such anticonstitutional forces can be expected to grow with population increase, a common occurrence in other former European African colonies.
The SA political scene can be likened to a tug-of-war, with the Western Cape and its more democratic traditions pulling in one direction and KwaZulu-Natal/Eastern Cape pulling in the other, with Gauteng left dangling in the middle. If my hypothesis is correct, the Gauteng marker will move inexorably towards KwaZulu-Natal/Eastern Cape over time.
James Cunningham
Camps Bay
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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