The Zuma Affair, Labour and the Future of Democracy in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa's new democracy has been tested by the controversy over the candidacy of Jacob Zuma, who became the successor to President Thabo Mbeki as leader of the African National Congress in December 2007, and is poised to become the country's new president after the 2009 elections. Few social actors had more at stake than organised labour, which found itself sidelined from the policy process by its erstwhile political allies under Mbeki. Labour supported Zuma throughout the leadership campaign, and can been seen as having ‘won’ in the leadership contest. Yet the labour movement has avoided the critical question: at what cost? We argue that labour's strategy of championing Zuma has simply reinforced the ‘insider politics’ that led to its sidelining and diminished the overall democratic process. If organised labour was to take its own post-apartheid history, and the experiences of other Third World labour movements, seriously, it would push for new, more participatory and inclusive forms of politics, rather than merely focus on a new political leader.

Notes

A complete analysis of the political processes under Mbeki's presidency and the battles surrounding his successor would have to include an assessment of the role of the sacp and the general state of Alliance politics. The sacp has not only been involved in struggles over the leadership and direction of the anc as a member of the tripartite alliance, but also has a parallel relationship with the anc that has been under increased strain over the past decade. Given limited space, this article focuses on cosatu, while acknowledging that both the union federation and the sacp have been faced with similar strategic and political choices and have generally responded in comparable and even interlinked ways. On this, see McKinley (2007), Satgar (2002) and Adams (1997).