South African election results. What happens next?
June 3, 2024 1:02 AM Subscribe
South African election results. What happens next? For the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994, the once-dominant party will need to make a deal with other parties to form a coalition government.
The Evolution MKs Big Lie In the lead-up to the 2024 South African elections, a conspiracy theory alleging vote rigging gained traction on social media platforms.
This is not the first time in recent history that disinformation has been weaponised in this way, and by some of the same people. The Deal that Undid Bell Pottinger (wayback machine link)
Representing Bell Pottinger were Bell, who once advised the former South African president FW De Klerk, Victoria Geoghegan and Jonathan Lehrle, a partner in Bell Pottinger’s geopolitical division who was brought up in South Africa.
On the other side of the negotiations was Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane Zuma, a friend of brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta, whose business interests span media, mining and computing equipment.
And the investigation into the corruption and state capture that happened under Zuma is still ongoing.
The Evolution MKs Big Lie In the lead-up to the 2024 South African elections, a conspiracy theory alleging vote rigging gained traction on social media platforms.
This is not the first time in recent history that disinformation has been weaponised in this way, and by some of the same people. The Deal that Undid Bell Pottinger (wayback machine link)
Representing Bell Pottinger were Bell, who once advised the former South African president FW De Klerk, Victoria Geoghegan and Jonathan Lehrle, a partner in Bell Pottinger’s geopolitical division who was brought up in South Africa.
On the other side of the negotiations was Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane Zuma, a friend of brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta, whose business interests span media, mining and computing equipment.
And the investigation into the corruption and state capture that happened under Zuma is still ongoing.
The ANC's RET faction, loyal to Jacob Zuma, forms the core of the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, essentially an ANC splinter group.
The ANC tolerated RET, its loyalty to ousted Zuma and likely complicity, or at very least sympathy with 2021's KZN looting riots. This for the purposes of party unity and to avoid loss of the Kwazulu Natal province (KZN) to Zulu nationalists.
The irony is that the ANC have lost KZN anyhow, and will now have to consider going into coalition with MK, who will no longer be subject to party discipline.
The MK, and smaller aligned parties propose to scrap SA's constitution and the constitutional court, a challenge which has been hiding just beyond the horizon for some time.
The SA constitution is progressive and liberal in its support of human rights, however 30 years down the line it is no surprise to see it being challenged, supposedly for the sake of 'traditional values' and pseudo marxism, code for return of the death penalty, rejection of gender & sexual rights and rationalising xenophobia (amongst others).
However MK might have gone too far. Zuma's threats of violence during the past few days might prompt the ANC to avoid collaboration so as to been seen as supporting the rule of law.
posted by BrStekker at 3:23 AM on June 3 [22 favorites]
The ANC tolerated RET, its loyalty to ousted Zuma and likely complicity, or at very least sympathy with 2021's KZN looting riots. This for the purposes of party unity and to avoid loss of the Kwazulu Natal province (KZN) to Zulu nationalists.
The irony is that the ANC have lost KZN anyhow, and will now have to consider going into coalition with MK, who will no longer be subject to party discipline.
The MK, and smaller aligned parties propose to scrap SA's constitution and the constitutional court, a challenge which has been hiding just beyond the horizon for some time.
The SA constitution is progressive and liberal in its support of human rights, however 30 years down the line it is no surprise to see it being challenged, supposedly for the sake of 'traditional values' and pseudo marxism, code for return of the death penalty, rejection of gender & sexual rights and rationalising xenophobia (amongst others).
However MK might have gone too far. Zuma's threats of violence during the past few days might prompt the ANC to avoid collaboration so as to been seen as supporting the rule of law.
posted by BrStekker at 3:23 AM on June 3 [22 favorites]
BrStekker, thank you for this thorough analysis, especially the connection to #RhodesMustFall. The best article I'd read on that to this point was one asking "What happened to Cecil Rhodes’s nose?" (Harper's)
posted by HearHere at 3:43 AM on June 3 [3 favorites]
posted by HearHere at 3:43 AM on June 3 [3 favorites]
Flagged as fantastic, BrStekker. Thank you.
posted by humbug at 4:27 AM on June 3 [1 favorite]
posted by humbug at 4:27 AM on June 3 [1 favorite]
Thanks for this. News organizations worldwide are making out that this election result is a BFD, but there's very little background given as to why it's important. Horrified to see the election denier shitbirds spreading worldwide.
posted by scruss at 5:31 AM on June 3 [5 favorites]
posted by scruss at 5:31 AM on June 3 [5 favorites]
This comes as no surprise:
"In 2014, during the presidency of Jacob Zuma, a deal for a $100bn nuclear power plant with Russia was concluded. Three years later, a local court order blocked the deal.
The opposition and civil society argued that the deal was an attempt to grant Russia influence in Africa. Zuma, an ANC veteran, was a member of the Umkhonto we Sizwe and intelligence chief for the movement before the end of apartheid and had long-standing networks in Moscow.
“We were suspicious of why he [Zuma] wanted the deal signed,” Rasool said. “We knew something was amiss; there was an attempt to get us into the kleptocracy.”"
A ‘Russian love affair’: Why South Africa stays ‘neutral’ on war
posted by CynicalKnight at 7:25 AM on June 3 [5 favorites]
"In 2014, during the presidency of Jacob Zuma, a deal for a $100bn nuclear power plant with Russia was concluded. Three years later, a local court order blocked the deal.
The opposition and civil society argued that the deal was an attempt to grant Russia influence in Africa. Zuma, an ANC veteran, was a member of the Umkhonto we Sizwe and intelligence chief for the movement before the end of apartheid and had long-standing networks in Moscow.
“We were suspicious of why he [Zuma] wanted the deal signed,” Rasool said. “We knew something was amiss; there was an attempt to get us into the kleptocracy.”"
A ‘Russian love affair’: Why South Africa stays ‘neutral’ on war
posted by CynicalKnight at 7:25 AM on June 3 [5 favorites]
Oh, that Harper's piece was great -- thanks for the link, HearHere!
posted by wenestvedt at 7:33 AM on June 3 [1 favorite]
posted by wenestvedt at 7:33 AM on June 3 [1 favorite]
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posted by HearHere at 2:38 AM on June 3