A coalition isn’t bad, or is it?

Going towards the 2019 elections, South Africans have never been so unsure about who is going to rule this country next ... but we have to pray for sanity to prevail so our beautiful land does not degenerate.

Many have predicted the ANC will win, but with a reduced majority. Others have pictured a scenario in which a coalition government is ushered into the Union Buildings.

The ANC appears resigned to the possibility of a coalition, given that it has been reconciling with the EFF and Julius Malema.

The EFF and ANC share policies but the EFF’s come with radical spice, so the youthful, socialist-oriented party could drag the ANC to the left and more radical policies, in the process abandoning the moderate approach of Nelson Mandela.

In addition, the advocates of radical economic transformation also appear to have influence within the ruling party.

Since the closely fought Nasrec electoral conference, the party has been forced to balance its moderates and its new radicals. Interestingly, the latest radicals cannot be described as leftist or right-wing, but rather just a new crop trying to cut a new path to differentiate them from those they associate with what they call white monopoly capital (WMC).

Unlike the previous radicals, who tried to pull the party towards socialism, this crop appear to use radicalism as a facade to hide behind, while eating the crumbs off the table of the new capitalists, such as the Guptas and the black economic empowerment beneficiaries.

So when they oppose WMC, they are not opposing the concept, but the colour of these monopoly capitalists. For them, it’s about replacing white faces with black ones. Self-centred and self-serving, isn’t it? This is evidenced by the fact that many of the anti-WMC people have been found with their hands in the till many times. Sadly, they are yet to see the inside of a jail as they have been in charge over the past 10 years.

While in power, they not only manipulated the state system, they rendered the criminal justice system unworkable by capturing it as part of their grand scheme. Thank goodness they failed to capture the judiciary, which has continued to be independent.

If the political experts are correct in predicting the country will be ruled by a coalition government, is that so bad? A coalition is what South Africa needs after 10 years of chaos. A multiparty, coalition government would enable our democracy to work, through consensus decision-making.

But there is a danger that such a coalition could be formed by the ANC and the EFF. In that case, change would come faster as the two would compete for policy dominance, as they do now in the land expropriation debate.

With the EFF’s current public rhetoric, racial tension and alienation of certain voters would increase. Its accusations that “Indians are racist”, its calls to “occupy unoccupied land” and Malema’s old struggle slogan of “kill the boer” could inflame the situation.

But the ANC’s failure to address the racism and land issues makes one wonder if the EFF really is wrong. There has to be some form of pressure to get these issues dealt with decisively.

There is a danger that a coalition could be formed by the ANC and the EFF. In that case, change would come faster as the two would compete for policy dominance.