‘Who Will Rule South Africa?’, co-authored by Qaanitah Hunter and Adriaan Basson, attempts to assess the state of the country’s democracy after 30 years of freedom. [Picture: News24]
South Africa is not a failed state. But it very well might be heading that way, if urgent course correction is not applied. That is according to Qaanitah Hunter, co-author of ‘Who Will Rule South Africa?’
Speaking in an interview on Salaamedia, Hunter, a political editor at News24, said South Africa will find itself at a significant milestone in 2024. Serious questions need to be asked about the dividends of democracy, nearly three decades since South Africans cast their ballots in the nation’s first democratic election.
One of those was whether or not the country had become a failed state. “The answer to that, simply, is ‘no, but we can be’,” she said.
“We can be on our way there if we allow bad politics to continue unabated, if we allow politicians to run amok with this country and active citizenry does not play a role.”
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Failed versus floundering
Hunter stressed the difference between a ‘failed state’ and a ‘floundering state’. She pointed out that South Africa was not yet a failed state – though it was a matter of resilience.
“You cannot assume mistakes, failures and inefficiencies in running of the government and the state being tantamount to a failed state where people aren’t able to govern themselves, where there aren’t systems in place, where a country is unable to produce their own food,” she explained.
The book seeks to unpack the past 29 years of life under the democratic dispensation. It also seeks to answer the question of whether there is reason to be optimistic for the country’s future, she said.
She warned that “if the future of South Africa is the sum of its politics, it is heading to a treacherous path”.
But, on the other hand, “if it is the sum of the people that live here, that take back the power into the hands of the people as envisioned by democracy the outcome is very different”.
