As one of South Africa’s remotest, largest, but least populated provinces, the Northern Cape could so easily have descended into chaos. In the 1994 elections the African National Congress had not secured the majority needed to govern the province, and the National Party was threatening to take over. The political future of the province was on a knife-edge.
But 10 years later the province’s politicians say the Northern Cape is one of the shining stars in South Africa, largely helped by a fruitful relationship between the two traditional party political rivals — the ANC and the New National Party — as well as the leadership of outgoing Premier Manne Dipico.
Not all the politicians agree, though. While the NNP and the ANC celebrate the triumphs of cooperation, the Democratic Alliance has a darker outlook. ”The only success the provincial government can claim is the amount of money its officials have taken for themselves,” Herolt Robertse, provincial leader of the DA, said.
And cooperation between the NNP and the ANC has come at a price. ”We have to be realistic. We have lost support due to our relationship with the ANC,” said Kennett Sinclair, NNP deputy leader. ”But we believe that we can still secure between 16% and 25% of the votes in this province.”
In 1994 the ANC won 15 seats in the legislature, the NP 12, the Freedom Front two and the old Democratic Party one. In 1999 the ANC won 64% of the votes — and did not have to do a deal with another party.
Ten years ago the new government stepped into the Northern Cape legislature without a clue about what was waiting for them, provincial minister of education Tina Joemat-Pettersson said. ”For me it was like fixing an aircraft while it was in flight — with inexperienced engineers. And with a pilot who was not really sure about the direction.”
The province’s vast distances pose a major obstacle, especially when it comes to service delivery.
It becomes more expensive to deliver services to a small group of people in an isolated region, Joemat-Pettersson said. ”If you have a larger community using a library or a hospital, that library becomes cost efficient, but 10 people is another story.”
Corruption remains the ultimate challenge, said the DA’s Robertse.
”The local councils are all in trouble because their officials are lining their pockets.” He said disgraced provincial minister John Block, who was a popular choice for premier, is a prime example of the type of leadership characteristic of the Northern Cape.
For Joemat-Pettersson, however, racism remains one of the biggest challenges. ”I see it everyday wherever I visit schools. People will have a problem with something as incredible as an accent of a teacher.”
As number one on the ANC provincial candidate list in the province Joemat-Pettersson may well lead the assault upon these challenges.
She laughs. ”The president alone can decide on that. But whoever follows has the big shoes of Dipico to step into. I think we were very fortunate to start off with him in the executive in 1994. He believed in the province.”
The Human Sciences Research Council estimates that the ANC will win 63% of the votes in the Northern Cape in the coming election, with the DA second, with 6,5%. But the NNP believes it can cut the ANC’s support back to under 50%.
The DA also believes ANC support is waning, but Robertse said his party’s first target is to replace the NNP as official opposition in the province.