SIPHAMANDLA ZONDI | Decline in civic activism favours dominant political parties

Witnessing  the launch of the Reconciliation Barometer on political culture in SA, I could not help but realise  we stand at a crossroads between hope and despair. 

It is a mixture of mammoth failures we see around us and seeds of agency that could turn this around. It is a sense of helplessness in the face of declining competence of leaders and greater hope in the ability of ordinary people to transform the country. 

This launch marked 20 years of efforts by  premier think-tank the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) at collecting informaabout the  health of our democracy. The IJR was founded  after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to  address issues left hanging in relation to the building of a democratic, united and just society. Its regular barometer has become the chronicle of the state of the nation, the very soul of our country. 

Time and again, the IJR data shows trends confirmed by the latest poll. The first is the declining trust of the people in public institutions in SA. As this extended to such crucial institutions as parliament over the years, it raised alarm because parliament is designed to represent the voices and choices of ordinary people. 

It is now losing trust among  ordinary people. If people lose trust in the guardians of the democratic system like parliament, courts, chapter 9 institutions, who is going to  underwrite our democracy? 

How will it survive the vagaries of insufficiently constrained power of politicians. 

The polls also showed that linked to this trend above is low levels of trust in national leadership. There is declining faith in the conduct and actions of the leaders in getting the country going. 

These two may explain the third trend of declining voter turnout in elections, especially after 2004. This means citizens are withdrawing from the political system at an alarming rate. 

This is a serious threat to our democracy. It means a small group of mostly fanatical party loyalists could in the near future represent the popular will. 

The fourth trend is the declining support for the governing party and  very limited growth of the DA in the context of the birth of many small political parties. 

This will change the landscape of our parliamentary politics and give smaller parties significant power in the political system. 

Yet, there is faith in votes and elections in this population. Most of the people  still trust in the power of the vote. This faith in the power of the vote coexists with the lower turnout for voting and low voter registration. I guess it also shows low participation in war committees, provincial legislatures and parliamentary engagement with the  population. 

The poll does not say what factors drive this sense of despondency. We know from analyses that a large part of the vote that is shifting away from the ANC is not going anywhere else but it is reserved. 

We also know that the failure and corruption involving politicians eat away from this faith in political systems. 

We also know that there is little open mobilisation of the population. Instead, political parties  want to mobilise their bases. The school and post-school curricula do not give this  serious attention. 

Churches and other fairy formations do  not invite  citizens to be active citizens on Earth. 

But it must be the decimation of civil society structures in communities, from community-based organisations to NGOs to social movements, that have caused the most enduring damage to popular participation in politics. 

This weakening and disappearance of  NGOs can be traced to the birth of democracy where some organisations thought the battle with authority was over. This was because the new administration was said to be duly appointed or elected. The trend in the decline of civic activism favours dominant political parties in SA. 

The poll recommends that efforts at reconciliation must intensify. We need to continue building a society marked by justice, including historical, economic and social justice. It also calls for engaged active citizens to rise. This latter will require support for movements that promote active citizenry now. 

Prof Zondi works for the University of Johannesburg and volunteers for the Devoted Citizen NGO.