Andrew's view on South African politics

From the 1950s to the early 1990s, the National Party introduced the oppressive system of apartheid.  Fast-forwarding to the 1994 election, blacks, many “colours,” and many non-white voted for the ANC, or at least just not the NP.  The ANC attempted to give blacks what they deserved—housing, healthcare, dignity, etc.  However, after Mandela’s term, the ANC leadership has been marked by corruption and inefficiency.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is the post-apartheid mainly white party, with a few old members of the NP.  Even though they are white, they are starting to gain credibility (especially among coloureds) in the Western Cape because they are efficient at providing resources to the poor, given the circumstances.  The problem that the DA in the Western Cape faces is that there are many Xhosa people from the Eastern Cape that have to move to the Western Cape (mainly the townships of Cape Town) because the ANC government in the Eastern Cape is corrupt and cannot provide adequate housing and healthcare.   Besides its inefficiencies, the ANC has some pretty controversial politicians, including its president, Jacob Zuma who was accused of rape and corruption.  So who, white, black, or colored, would vote for someone like that; or a corrupt and inefficient party?

I asked a Xhosa person this question at a braai this weekend and what he said finally shed some light: Even if we are to vote for a corrupt person (ANC) who only cares about making his friends and family wealthy, at least we know who he is; it’s not surprising.  But if we vote for a white person, who knows what can happen.