Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
24 January 2025 | 12:26 CAT
3-minute read

The Patriotic Alliance’s deputy president Kenny Kunene is in the EFF’s crosshairs after he uploaded a social media post that is ‘harmful’ to illegal miners in South Africa.

The EFF has said it will report Kunene to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for the picture he posted on X that depicts two slaughtered and skinned goat carcasses hanging from a roof by their necks. The caption reads, “This is the chilling fate that awaits all illegal miners robbing South Africa of their natural resources and wealth.”

The EFF’s plan to report the matter indicates that the issue extends beyond mere inter-party conflict. It reflects the party’s willingness to take a principled stance, even as this unfolds in a global context marked by increasingly discordant voices in conflict with the constitutional orders of their governments.

“[It is done] often in order to get a certain kind of surge of response from ordinary people who are feeling slightly ill at ease, are feeling slightly lost in terms of their political trust in government, and often their superiors don’t do anything about this,” Angelo Fick, director of research at ASRI, said on this week’s ASRI Report.

Opposing voices appear to be a direct reaction to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s passive response to corruption-accused cabinet members and others who have made similar comments in the public domain. One such example is Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton Mackenzie, who remains a member of the Patriotic Alliance despite making comments that are at odds with official GNU coalition policies.

“If you take an oath of office to protect and stand by the Constitution, you should do so, and do so in line with the values of the Constitution,” Fick said.

The discussion turned to the motivation behind the ANC’s intervention in Gauteng and KZN. While appearing to be a genuine reform effort, critics argue it is a last-ditch attempt to garner support from the two most populous provinces in South Africa after the party’s dismal electoral defeat in the May 2024 election.

“What the ANC is sitting with is a problem of how these two provinces, in very different ways, signal a lack of the trust in the party by the ordinary populace, and it wants to rebuild that. And some of how it proposes to do that is to change the leadership,” Fick explained.

Analysts suggest that the real remedy would be to purge the party of members accused of corruption, improve political education, rehabilitate ANC branches, and enlist the help of younger people to repair the party.

Fick drew attention to the demographic gap between individuals in leadership positions- both in South Africa’s private and public sector- and the majority of the country’s population, who are young.

“The concern we have is that people with very 20^th century imaginations about how to fix things, are being asked to fix a crisis that is being made in the 21^st century,” he noted, drawing attention to an urgent need for the ANC to evolve to meet the failures of governance that have led to decreased support for the party.

Fick warned that if the ANC’s current trajectory persists, its support could erode further in the 2026 local government elections, potentially rendering it unable to form stable coalitions. He stressed that meaningful change requires overhauling the ANC’s cadre deployment system and prioritising service delivery for citizens.

The last point the ASRI Report centred on was the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) threat to challenge the recently signed Land Expropriation Act in court, which reflects growing tensions within South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU). The act, which allows for land expropriation without compensation, has reignited debates on land reform and economic justice.

Fick contextualised the controversy by highlighting South Africa’s long history of land dispossession and the failure of the post-apartheid government to address land inequality effectively. While the DA frames its opposition as a defence of property rights, Fick criticised its alignment with groups like AfriForum, suggesting this stance prioritises the interests of a privileged minority over the need for justice and restitution.

Fick also pointed out the broader implications of this legal challenge for the GNU coalition. With President Ramaphosa already at odds with coalition partners over key legislative priorities, the DA’s opposition signals deeper instability within the coalition. This, he argued, could undermine the government’s ability to address critical socio-economic issues and deliver on its promises of reform.

As South Africa grapples with its legacy of inequality, Fick stressed that addressing land reform is essential for fostering economic opportunities and reducing poverty. However, he cautioned that legislative measures must be accompanied by actionable government policies to ensure meaningful progress.

Listen to the ASRI Report on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Habib Bobat.