A Symbol of Democracy or a Failure of Democracy

On April 22, people across South Africa waited in lines for hours to vote and many polling stations stayed open an extra three hours until midnight to accommodate the massive turnout. The turnout is estimated to be roughly 77% percent which though very high by western standards pales in comparison to he record numbers seen in South Africa in the 1990’s. South Africa has now established three legitimate parties which were vying for votes in the national elections.
Despite these indicators of true democracy at work there is an egregious lack of bipartisanship. The main reason why there is so little bipartisanship is because of the stranglehold that the African National Congress (ANC) party has on national and provincial power. In 2004, the ANC won a record 70% in the National Assembly exceeding the two-thirds majority in parliament. It appears that the ANC will receive or fall just short of a two-thirds majority again this year. Jacob Zuma, leader of the ANC is expected to be elected when the new parliament opens on May 6th and would then be inaugurated on May 9th.
The only other significant victories came for the Democratic Alliance (DA) led by Helen Zille and the newly formed Congress of the People (COPE). The DA took home about 16% of the vote, up from 12% in 2004. More importantly, the DA regained control of the Western Cape Province making it the only province (of nine) which is not controlled by the ANC. The newly formed COPE was hastily created about five months before the election by disgruntled members of the ANC. Most pundits had predicted that the newly formed party would surpass the DA as the ANC’s main opposition and some predicted that COPE would take as much as 30% of the vote. COPE suffered from its affiliation with the unpopular former president, Thabo Mbeki, who resigned on September 25, 2008. COPE disappointed by taking home only 7-8% of the vote but it did solidify itself as a legitimate party in South Africa.
The ANC’s dominance of South African politics is a major threat to the democratic system in South Africa. Zuma even said “God expects us [the ANC] to rule this country [South Africa] because we are the only organization which was blessed by pastors when it was formed. It is even blessed in Heaven. That is why we will rule until Jesus comes back. We should not allow anyone to govern our city when we are ruling the country.” In this Zuma is declaring his and the ANC’s divine right to rule South Africa, just as European monarchs justified their rule in the past.

Sources:

http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13528539
http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13527856&source=features_box1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Zuma