The African National Congress (ANC), South Africa’s governing party, is weakening. It has recently committed some terrible mistakes in government. High on the list of errors is its decision to close ranks in defence of President Jacob Zuma during the Nkandla debacle where public money was used on upgrades to his private homestead. Then there’s the deployment of incompetent “cadres” to critical positions in government as well as Zuma’s ill-timed cabinet reshuffle. Critics argue that these problems stem from the ANC’s insistence on being a liberation movement which they say is incompatible with a constitutional democracy. This has raised the question about the party’s very nature: Is it not time for the ANC to stop seeing itself as a liberation movement but rather a modern, professional political party? But that argument is hard to sustain. There’s nothing particular about political parties that makes them compatible with constitutional democracy. Liberation movement vs political part...
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