The March local government elections once again proved that there was no viable alternative to the African National Congress and its allies, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Thursday.
In an evaluation of the March election, the trade-union federation said the opposition had demonstrated that it cannot reach beyond its ethnic strongholds.
”The Democratic Alliance, in particular, cannot even hold on to the coloured vote. The social movements, too, have not been able to win much at the polls, with most of the civics and the anti-privatisation movement gaining no seats at all, and very few votes,” the briefing document stated.
”There will never be a successful challenge to the ANC and alliance hegemony, in particular from the right. Only left-wing programmes have a mass appeal. The transformation project driven by the ANC and its allies has struck a cord with the overwhelming majority of our people.”
But Cosatu also warned against complacency, citing the example of Mexico’s Party of the Institutionalised Revolution.
”It held on to power for close to 80 years. But in many ways it did not deliver for the people. Instead, it became increasingly careerist and corrupt. Although it continued to win the elections more or less fairly, it did not bring about a prosperous, dynamic or just society. Instead, it left a legacy of deep inequalities, slow growth, high crime and political and social alienation.
”We have the chance to do better — not just to keep political power, but to use it more consistently to build an integrated, unified society,” Cosatu said.
Two lessons could be learned from the election, namely that ”most of our supporters — including Cosatu members — will rather stay away from the polls rather than vote for another party”, and ”most of our supporters are willing to use other protest mechanisms, entirely outside the electoral process, if their concerns are not addressed”. — Sapa