Mandela’s long walk is not yet overSouth Africa needs a more just society to ensure his legacy

Since the end of apartheid and the first free elections in 1994, South Africa has sought to balance democracy with the reality of one-party rule by the African National Congress. It has not been an easy combination. Cosseted by massive majorities, the grandees of the ANC have appropriated for themselves unjustified powers and privileges. Yet the nation has held together, an achievement largely due to the remarkable legacy of one man: Nelson Mandela.The death of South Africa’s first democratically elected president at the age of 95 is a moment of immense significance for his country and for the world. In an era of human-scale politicians, Mandela was incontrovertibly a giant, a figure who takes his place alongside the outstanding leaders of the 20th century. He was indispensable to South Africa’s transformation from apartheid to majority rule. He set an enduring example to humanity by emerging from prison after 27 years without bitterness or vengefulness. As a result, over the past two decades South Africa has travelled the path of reconciliation, not of bloodshed.More

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Mandela’s gift to South Africa was not simply to negotiate the peaceful handover of power and to initiate the racial reconciliation that followed. His hand also guided the development of South Africa’s robust constitution, its

democratic institutions and its functioning judiciary. He strived for a liberal economic policy that balanced the need for radical redistribution of wealth with the demands of economic growth.Today, however, Mandela’s legacy is not secure. South Africa faces many challenges. Its education system is failing, poverty and unemployment are rife and the mining sector – the traditional bedrock of the economy – has been hobbled by industrial unrest.In particular, a great question hangs over the ANC. Any analysis of South Africa’s post-apartheid story must recognise the scale of the challenge that its leaders faced. Yet responsibility for many of the country’s failures must also be laid at the party’s door.South Africa’s dominant political force was at the heart of the constitutional settlement that Mandela forged. Because of its role in the apartheid struggle, the ANC enjoyed enormous political legitimacy and goodwill. But throughout the past 20 years, it has remained frozen in aspic, halfway between the liberation movement it once was and the functioning political party it needs to become. By basking in Mandela’s aura, it has spared itself the need to complete the transition.As a result, the ANC is today a byword for weak leadership and cronyism. Encompassing newly enriched tycoons, liberals, racial nationalists, populists and union bosses, it struggles to present itself as a national movement. Its capacity for decisive action is crippled.Mandela’s achievement was, against great odds, to give South Africa’s racially divided society a sense of purpose, pride and unity. But his successors have failed to take this further and address the deep-seated injustices left by minority rule. The commanding heights of the economy remain dominated by the white elite. The policy of black empowerment has been cosmetic, gifting riches to a small, politically well connected group. Shockingly, South Africa is today a more unequal society in terms of income distribution than it was under apartheid.Mandela’s greatest achievement – the racial harmony the nation currently enjoys – is at risk. Intolerance has started to seep into public and private discourse. The anti-white rantings of Julius Malema, the former ANC youth leader, are just one example of this.Mandela’s death now brings a period of mourning, one that will hopefully bring South Africans together. But his death must also usher in a period of reflection. South Africans will want to look back on the achievements of the post-apartheid era and the nation’s extraordinary capacity to accommodate diversity and foster reconciliation. But they must also look ahead to what

remains undone. They must restructure the economy, radically overhaul the education system, reform land ownership and enforce a policy of redistribution that pays much more attention to the poor.The ANC alone looks increasingly unable to deliver this. The hope must be that a new political force emerges that can hold government to account and ensure politicians represent the interests of ordinary citizens. That may well require a new generation of leaders who are better able to draw inspiration from Mandela’s extraordinary story.