OPINION
By Jonathan Erasmus
The results that have emerged from Wednesday’s local government elections suggest a shift that extends well beyond the ANC’s decline. They suggest that the liberation left has lost its collective power.
Before unpacking this change in voting patterns, we need to define what we mean by the South African liberation left.
For this argument, I am using liberation left as shorthand for parties rooted in the liberation struggle or descended from its political traditions: the ANC, PAC, MKP, EFF and SACP.
This is a broad political family, rather than a coherent ideological bloc. Its members differ on policy, leadership and even their understanding of liberation.
One need only recall the fracas over the proposed constitutional amendment to allow land expropriation without compensation. Both the ANC and EFF agreed in principle but could not agree on the fine print.
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