The ANC is in a spot of bother, again. The governing party is having some issues with their cash flow and last week employees at Luthuli House decided to down their tools and go on strike.
As if a lack of funding wasn’t a problem enough, the party withdrew its electoral court application to re-open the registration of candidates for the local government elections. The party failed to meet last week’s Monday deadline to register candidates for the upcoming local government elections and will await the Constitutional Court judgement on whether the elections will be postponed to February.
Should there be no postponement the ANC could lose their grip on many municipalities as they won’t have any candidates standing for election in plenty of places.
Isaac Mashaba writes about South Africa’s continued trajectory towards despair and links in the ANC’s failings (for subscribers) while Charles Cilliers argues that the party’s money problems may not be so much about money but a deeper problem at play from within the organisation.
While the party announced over the weekend, they had resorted to starting a crowdfunding campaign to pay for staffers salaries. In a humorous take on the debacle, Howard Feldman (for subscribers) suggests the ANC sign up for an OnlyFans account. The content subscription service is well-known for allowing its user base to sell account subscriptions offering sexually explicit content.
As Feldman puts it: “An ANC OnlyFans account might not be as ridiculous as one would think. Given that one has to be over 18 to vote, this might well be a perfect fit for the party. A by-line to consider could be something like, ‘We have been stripping you for years. It’s time to return the favour!’”
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions and analyses:
The Mail & Guardian has two interesting pieces on South Africa’s favourable agricultural sector and the over 230 000 jobs that can be created through renewable energy efforts.
Over at Business Day, Gareth van Onselen writes about the ANC members that have been murdered over the past decade – casting another grim picture of the governing party. In the business section, Chris Gilmour writes about the efforts made to save retail group Massmart and whether customers will be open to the changes. (Both articles are for subscribers)
Richard Calland dissects what it takes to be a good chief justice of the Constitutional Court with incumbent Mogoeng Mogoeng due to retire in October.
And if you think the next five years of economic growth isn’t already priced into the markets, think again. Natale Labia writes about the fate of global equities in the Daily Maverick.
