Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
03 May 2024 | 13:10 SAST
2-minute read

This year’s Freedom Day marked 30 years since the first democratic elections in South Africa, a moment that is of particular significance in the nation’s history.

The majority of South Africans are now younger than the country itself, contrasting starkly with the predominantly older political leadership, says research director at the Auwal Socioeconomic Research Institute (ASRI), Angelo Fick.

“That disconnect is a very important thing to think through because in other parts of the world, that has led to a variety of different forms of political instability,” Fick notes in this week’s ASRI Report on Radio Islam International.

Reflecting on the statements made in the past week by former South African politicians regarding the challenges that South Africa continues to face, Fick states, “It’s very strange when the people who made the problems come back to tell you how to fix those problems, and my sense is that in the South African scene, the political class of the past think that the political class of the present aren’t capable and need to take their advice.”

Measuring South Africa’s progress over the past three decades will aid in healing the wounds of the past and prepare for challenges still to come, Fick says.

“Before we pat ourselves on the back, we need to realise that freedom is not something that you attain, and then you have—it’s something that you build and continue to build,’ Fick notes.

Former President Mbeki’s criticism of Zuma and the upcoming disciplinary hearing reflect the disarray of the once-honourable African National Congress.

International Workers’ Day speeches by various political parties reveal the performative nature of politics. The specific choice of different symbolic locations for political speeches “ironically reveals the division—not just between the rich and the poor in this country, but between the politicians and those they claim to represent,” Fick says.

Fick questions the effectiveness of such gestures and calls for genuine engagement with communities beyond election cycles.

The frenzy of self-publicised service delivery efforts before elections came under scrutiny, with Fick suggesting that politicians prioritise visible projects over essential governance work.

In conclusion, Fick urged South African citizens to break the cycle of performative politics by actively participating in legislative processes and holding politicians accountable year-round.

“[It] is a cycle that South African voters can break, that South African citizens can break, that we don’t just vote and poll, but that we actually behave like citizens of democracy and hold our politicians accountable continuously, not just through elections, but by participating in legislative processes, by commenting, by objecting and supporting organisations and institutions that are already engaged in those processes,” Fick says.

Listen to the full interview on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat here.