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INSIDE AFRICA
South Africa's Elections Examined
Aired April 18, 2009 - 19:30:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ISHA SESAY, HOST: Hello, and welcome to INSIDE AFRICA. I'm Isha Sesay. On the program this week, election fever has taken hold of South Africa, and in the balance is the ANC. The party has been governing since the fall of Apartheid, but it now has a leader only recently cleared of corruption charges and still under a cloud of suspicion.
On the other side, Cope, an opposition party that says the country will be on the road to becoming a failed state if the ANC wins. Over the next half hour, Nkepile Mabuse takes us through the significance of this elections from Johannesburg. Nkepile.
NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: South Africa is holding its fourth national poll since democracy. The governing ANC is expected to win convincingly, but analysts predict it may not get the two-thirds parliamentary majority it's gunning for.
In the last 15 years, the ruling party has provided housing for the poor, introduced universal health care, and the nation boasts an impressive constitution. But all is not well here. South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world. Corruption has become endemic in government, and nearly one in four adults is unemployed. Robyn Curnow has been speaking to voters about what issues are important to them and who they think will deliver.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The political landscape here in South Africa has changed since 1994, when South Africans, blacks South Africans went to vote for the first time. Now, the ANC or the African National Congress, the ruling party, is facing a major challenge from a new opposition party called Cope. But here in Soweto, which is perhaps the heart of the old liberation struggle, the issues of the new democracy are still very much in discussion and debate. We're going to take to the streets here and ask people who they're voting for, and more importantly what are the issues that matter today.
And we're sitting here with a group of young Soweto men.
(on camera): Who are you going to vote for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Always is ANC. ANC has been the best organization for black people.
CURNOW: Say, if we were all to agree on what is the biggest challenge facing South Africa in the next four years for this government, what is it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a lot of unemployment, especially youngsters, who come from schools. They compete their studies, no work, no job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see them trying, it's worse, worse, worse, worse.
CURNOW: What is the cause of the (inaudible)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unemployment.
CURNOW: Unemployment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody wants houses here (inaudible). Now they say, the ANC isn't building houses. They have done a lot.
CURNOW: So, the new kid on the block is Cope, a party that broke away from the ANC in 2008. Now, the question is, and I'm going to put it to a Cope member I'm with. Can your party loosen the ANC's grip on power? Is that your plan?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, in fact, we're giving South Africans a new hope, that there is in South Africa an alternative party where the votes will count for something. Now for too long the ANC has been running the show, and we're the new kid on the block, like you say.
CURNOW: Why do you think these people in Soweto who traditionally voted for the ANC ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CURNOW: ... will change?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they will change. They will change because for the past 15 years, they have seen no development that has taken place. In fact, there is development, but that's a very minimal case. The ANC has got good policies. The only problem that they have is the capacity to implement those policies. So, Cope comes up with this agenda that says that we are going to change the whole landscape by getting people who are capable, people who are not corrupt, people who know what they are doing. Because if you can see, the ANC has been filled with people who, in most cases, have been found to be corrupt, especially in the leadership.
CURNOW: What is clear is that most South Africans still have a pretty strong emotional attachment to the ANC. Of course, it's the party of Nelson Mandela and the liberation movement. But the test at this next election will be, will the ANC hold on to its two-thirds majority? And of course, what's also clear is that the issues South Africans will be voting on are pretty universal. Here in Soweto, we've heard this, and it's the same across the country. The issues are jobs, unemployment, crime, housing and education.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MABUSE: He's possibly the most controversial presidential hopeful this country had ever seen, but if the ANC wins this election as expected, Jacob Zuma will be South Africa's next president. Until earlier this month, Zuma faced over 700 counts of fraud and corruption charges that were dropped, but not forgotten. Let's take a look at the man most likely to rule South Africa for at least the next five years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MABUSE: Jacob Zuma's popularity has reached cult-like proportions in South Africa. (inaudible) president of the African National Congress who taught himself how to read and write is now the most powerful politician in the country, and he'll probably become its next president. His rise to the top has however been marred by controversy. He was accused of corruption before charges were dropped, and acquitted of rape in 2006. But his support continued to swell.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's going to unite South Africa and the ANC.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a humble man, a nice man, he knows the people, what they want, he knows how to dance a Zulu dance.
MABUSE: Zuma also enjoyed the support of those who loathed his predecessor in the ANC, Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki was seen as aloof and disconnected and intellectual, while Zuma, who rose to the top despite being born into poverty, is regarded as a man of the people.
He's also admired for practicing his Zulu tradition. He has two wives, and he's engaged to be married to another woman.
In 2005, a South African court convicted Zuma's former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik of corruption. It found that he benefited financially from his relationship with the ANC president. Zuma was then also charged with corruption and fraud, but an ANC-dominated parliament disbanded the unit that was investigating Zuma, and the party fired the president on whose watch Zuma was probed. Two weeks before the election, the 700 plus counts of corruption against Zuma were dropped, because of alleged political interference in the case.
JACOB ZUMA: My conscience is clear. I've not committed any crime against the state or the people of South Africa.
MABUSE: At the height of his legal woes, Zuma had little to sing and dance about. His lack of judgment was exposed on several occasions. During his rape trial, he admitted to having unprotected sex with an HIV- positive woman. Zuma later said he took a shower to minimize his chances of infection. The court acquitted him. And at Shaik's corruption trial, evidence emerged of how Zuma depended on Shaik for almost everything financial.
But, during apartheid, Zuma's legal troubles were of a different kind. He spent 10 years on Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, convicted of conspiring to overthrow the government.
To some, he remains a hero of that struggle, while his opponents wonder whether he's the best candidate as president. One thing is certain, this presidential vote (ph) has been of the most divisive issues in South Africa since the dawn of democracy in 1994.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MABUSE: Under Nelson Mandela, the ANC was admired as a party for all South Africans, but it has recently been accused of losing its moral authority. We'll look at that issue and more after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MABUSE: Welcome back to INSIDE AFRICA, and our coverage of the elections in South Africa. The ruling African National Congress helped end apartheid and bring democracy to this country. It has governed unchallenged with a proud record, but critics worry that the party that was universally respected under Nelson Mandela is now using its power for its own gain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MABUSE: A public endorsement by the Nelson Mandela family is as precious as gold for any South African politician, but perhaps no one needs it as desperately as ANC head Jacob Zuma, whose reputation has been tainted by multiple controversies. For three years, Zuma faced corruption charges, but earlier this month, just two weeks before the election, those charges were suddenly dropped.
He was also charged with rape, but acquitted in a high-profile trial. The Mandela family says that they still support the ANC party, the party Mandla Mandela's grandfather once led.
MANDLA MANDELA, MANDELA'S GRANDSON: Today, we're here with chief Mandela to emphasize that the Mandela house world has not parted with the ANC. We will not part with the ANC. We will die in this organization.
MABUSE: Under Mandela, the ANC was seen as representing the hopes and dreams of all South Africans, but today the party is dogged by corruption, infighting, and is accused of failing to fulfill its promise of a better life for all.
Many of its senior members have become overnight millionaires, while ordinary people still lack running waster, decent housing and jobs. That, however, does not mean the party has lost significant support. It's still expected to win the upcoming election convincingly, but its two-thirds parliamentary majority is under threat.
The removal of former state president, Thabo Mbeki from office in September last year by an ANC led by his political nemesis Zuma has changed South Africa's political landscape forever. It set in motion the formation of the biggest challenge yet to the ruling ANC. The Congress of the People or Cope is primarily made up of Mbeki loyalists, who resigned from the ANC after his sacking. They accuse current head, Jacob Zuma, and his backers of destroying the party's moral compass.
Cope is selling itself as a party of clean and honest government, and has even gone as far as electing a former priest at its presidential candidate.
MVUME DANDALA, COPE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We do not want this party to be in any form or shape just an extension of the African National Congress. This is the party of the South African people, who are wanting to put values at the center in the process of rebuilding this nation.
MABUSE: A Makino (ph) poll predicts Cope will get about 9 percent of the vote, and the ANC 65 percent. What does however still make it a threat is that collectively, with other opposition parties in South Africa, including the country's second largest party, the Democratic Alliance, it may eat away at the ruling party's majority. A scenario the ANC wants to avert at all costs, including dragging the country's most loved former politician out of retirement, despite his frailty and old age.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MABUSE: This election here has seen an unprecedented number of young voters registering. What does that mean, and how will their vote affect the outcome? That's after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MABUSE: Welcome back to INSIDE Africa and our coverage of the elections in South Africa. There's been an impressive increase in voter registration among South Africa's youth, many of whom are too young to remember the reality of apartheid. All political parties are actively trying to reach them, but are the youth buying it? I sat down with a group of young people who will be voting for the very first time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MABUSE: Having grown up in a free and democratic South Africa, these young people say they're less occupied with the country's divided past and more concerned about its future. Many of their parents remain loyal to the ruling African National Congress, but they say they will be voting for change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My biggest issue would have to be crime. I'm sick of living in fear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not just addressing crime, but addressing the things that cause crime, like inequality and poverty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the biggest issue will be the unemployment. There's a big global financial crisis that just happened. I think a lot of people are going to be (inaudible).
MABUSE: Besides the fact that you're going to be voting for the very first time this year, why is this election important to you?
MARY-ROSE MASALO, STUDENT: The majority of South Africans are still living in the same position that they were during apartheid era. So it's time for a change.
ITUMELENG MABOTE, STUDENT: This singular party structure we have in South Africa has been around for a long time around (ph) Africa, and it has been proven that it does not work.
MABUSE: But contrary to the views of this group, a recent local poll conducted by Plus 94 Research reports that 65 percent of Young South Africans say they will vote for the ruling ANC.
CHRIS MACROBERTS, STUDENT: A lot of people support the ANC because that feel an obligation support the ANC. You know, it's part of your family, your culture, your personal history.
NEBU SILI, STUDENT: ANC has been there for a very long time now, and they're literally the face of democracy as we know it right now. So people are very afraid to let other political parties come into power and actually take control and leave the ANC behind. They always want the ANC to be there, because ANC was, you know, what took us from the apartheid, you know, era, and they want it to stay the same.
MABUSE: A record 6.3 million young people have registered for the 2009 elections, and they represent nearly 30 percent of the voting population. Political parties have used the Internet, text messaging, and even comic books to reach out to them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's everybody's duty where you have -- have to vote, particularly in a country like this, where people had to fight and die to get the vote. I think it's a travesty that some people are so apathetic that they don't use it.
MABUSE: The huge interest in voting among young South Africans has been attributed in part to the excitement generated by the U.S. elections, as well as the split in the ruling party. The effect has been a sweeping passion for politics among the young.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MABUSE: Now, more than just the ANC and Cope parties vying for leadership in South Africa. After the break, we'll look at some slightly less likely candidates. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MABUSE: Welcome back to INSIDE AFRICA and our coverage of the elections in South Africa. Now, the ballot is crowded and cluttered with political parties who don't really have a chance of making it to parliament. Robyn Curnow looks at some of those running without a hope.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: 26 parties are contesting the South African national elections. Some parties, even by their own admission, will only get votes from friends and family. So, why spend around $18,000 to be on the ballot paper?
(on camera): The party is KISS, K, I, S, S. What does it mean?
CLAIRE GAISFORD, KISS PARTY: Keep it simple, stupid. It's a business maxim. And it's the economy, stupid.
CURNOW: Do you think you'd be a good president?
GAISFORD: Yeah, because I would have a very small, well-trained (ph) government, and I'm saying I can turn this country around in two years. But that's not a promise, that's a threat.
CURNOW: Is your party a joke?
GAISFORD: Got to have some fun, you know? But I'm actually very serious about that fun, because it's a critical aspect that I'm talking about, the thrust of the theme that governments create poverty.
CURNOW (voice over): While another party, Azapo, which has its roots in the black consciousness movement, calls for greater government involvement in the lives of ordinary South Africans.
MOSIBUDI MANGENA, AZAPO PARTY: We're saying that these state companies should be used to intervene on the side of the poor, to -- to create jobs and so on. That's their role, to be the developmenter.
CURNOW (voice over): What exactly do you want? You want South Africa's name to be changed to Azania (ph)?
MANGENA: Absolutely.
CURNOW: Still?
MANGENA: Yes, we do.
CURNOW: Don't you think that's a bit of a dreamer vision?
MANGENA: No, no, no, it's not. It's not.
CURNOW: What does Azania mean?
MANGENA: It means the land of black people.
CURNOW: So, what about the white people in South Africa?
MANGENA: No, not like that. They're -- they're welcome. We are an anti-racist sort of organization.
CURNOW: OK. So, you are ...
MANGENA: We want to build an anti-racist society.
CURNOW (voice over): A newly launched party called Women Forward hopes to win a seat in parliament by appealing the country's female voters.
(voice over): You've just launched The Women Forward Party. Why "woman"? Because surely you're alienating 50 percent of the voting population? Men?
NANA NGOBESE, WOMEN FORWARD PARTY: Men actually have loved the name, because I think we have more men wanting to join on the regular basis than -- not that we don't want them, but we'd like women to be more excited about Women Forward.
CURNOW (on camera): OK. So you are saying this is not a women's only party. What kind of men join up?
NGOBESE: Men who understand that women can bring a difference in the political sphere.
CURNOW: And you're new, and you're a very small party.
NGOBESE: Right. Yes. Yeah.
CURNOW: Do you think you have a place in the political space? 26 other -- 25 other parties contesting this election.
NGOBESE: That's right. Yes.
CURNOW: A lot of parties.
NGOBESE: Yes.
CURNOW: Do you think (inaudible) people's votes?
NGOBESE: (inaudible), I don't know. But we're giving people a choice.
CURNOW (voice over): All the more choice for citizens who until 15 years ago were not even allowed to vote.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MABUSE: Well, that's our preview of elections here in South Africa. From Johannesburg, I'm Nkepile Mabuse. Back to you, Isha, at the CNN Center.
SESAY: Thanks, Nkepile. We'll be closely following how things turn out. We'll be back next week with a brand-new INSIDE AFRICA. Until then, take care for now.
END
