South African splinters: from 'elite transition' to 'small-a alliances'

The struggle for full liberation in South African was truncated by a nationalist, neoliberal bloc led first by Nelson Mandela and then, more rapidly degenerating during the early 2000s, by Thabo Mbeki, both under the influence of global capital. The backlash by trade unions and communists, once Jacob Zuma was fired as deputy president in 2005, reverberated through the ruling African National Congress (ANC). With Mbeki tossed out in late 2008, a shift was anticipated under Zuma, bud did not occur. However, the independent Left failed to construct a clear alternative and began to fade, while ubiquitous populist insurgencies were rudderless. This left merely a distant hope for a union-community fusion, on some future occasion. Since the freeing of Nelson Mandela in February 1990, the South African liberation struggle has witnessed the truncation, hijacking and reversal of its fabled 'second stage', the National Democratic Revolution ('NDR'), which aims to transform the state and address class inequality. Instead, the state became an even more blatant vehicle for crony capitalism and merely tokenistic welfarism than it was under the Afrikaners' Nationalist Party rule. By mid 2010, the contradictions had become unbearable, and a spate of labour unrest suddenly brought home the obvious point: Alliance politics must urgently restructure - along with national socio-economic policies - or face an historic breaking point.