Toyin Falola
South Africa finds itself at another crossroads in its history. After gaining freedom from Apartheid in 1994, our people were able to form a country based on the principles of universal democracy and non-racialism. Many saw this as the great achievement of political liberation from Apartheid.
However, South Africa now stands on the brink of yet another historical moment. Freedom in a country that is free from political oppression but plagued with poverty and high rates of unemployment. The gap between what the country has achieved since political freedom and what we as a nation want from our society is becoming more apparent. We need not only to keep the democratic contract made in 1994, but also to show the people that this contract is real. South Africa is currently undergoing a battle for economic prosperity and legitimacy of power.
Until recently, the African National Congress (ANC) was the main player in the country’s political system after apartheid. The party’s status was determined not just by the votes it received in elections, but also by its history of being part of the struggle for freedom. Historical figures such as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, and others contributed to the organization’s political legitimacy, going far beyond simple votes. For many South Africans, the ANC represented the achievement of democracy itself. But the history of liberation, even though significant, could not for too long protect a ruling party from the pressure of democratic responsibility. Young people born after the end of apartheid judge the effectiveness of their political leaders by how things are now: job opportunities, good education, decent housing, electricity, and economic security. For these people, the power of the liberation movement belongs to their country’s history, but it cannot make up for poor governance.
This became clear when the ANC failed to maintain its majority in parliament, despite winning around 40 percent of the national vote in the 2024 national elections. This signaled the end of the ANC’s monopoly of the national parliament, which had continued unbroken for some time. It was followed by the creation of a Government of National Unity, in which the Democratic Alliance, along with other political parties, joined President Cyril Ramaphosa in government. More importantly, the move marked the coming of a more competitive political climate. The local government elections of November 2026 have only further accelerated this process of realignment. The results of the voting, as announced on November 9, showed the ANC at about 31 percent of the total national municipal vote, while the Democratic Alliance won about 25 percent. The conclusion to be drawn is that there will be an increasing number of coalition negotiations over control of many municipalities. Such trends indicate a move away from the stability of a one-party state and towards a form of politics where negotiation and compromise play an increasingly important role in shaping the future of South African politics. There are both opportunities and problems with such a trend. The multiparty system can serve as a means of ensuring proper oversight of political power. Coalition governments will have to solve problems stemming from disagreements over policies, nominations, budgets, and administration.
Their success will depend on their ability to move past the politics of power plays and develop systems of governance that deliver public services. Whether South Africa can develop its democratic system will depend not only on its ability to build coalitions, but on whether those coalitions can govern. Governance challenges are intertwined with the country’s economic challenges. While apartheid brought about a segregated society, it also created a geography based on economic inequality where land, education, employment, investment, and other services were not equally accessible. The new government took over an economy that was highly divided, despite successive post-apartheid governments’ efforts to provide more social welfare packages.
These numbers indicate just how difficult the situation is. At 33.6 percent, unemployment was roughly 8.5 million people in the second quarter of 2026. Real Gross Domestic Product had fallen by 0.2 percent in the same period. This suggests an economy that cannot provide enough jobs for a growing citizenry that continues to demand better from its democratically elected government. It is one thing to increase the nation’s wealth; it is another entirely to turn that into job creation and improvements in people’s lives. This is precisely where the unfulfilled promises of economic liberation come into clear sight. Land reform, industrialization, infrastructure development, access to capital, and the growth of small businesses are at the heart of South Africa’s strategy for transformation. At the same time, the debate about Black Economic Empowerment shows how different expectations are regarding redistribution. While advocates view the policy as a means of solving the historically rooted problem of exclusion based on race, others wonder whether some methods fail to broaden economic involvement to those people who lack political connections or money. Also, one main question lies beneath all these controversies: is it enough to gauge transformation by the changing character of the economic elite?
For young South Africans, however, these issues are not merely academic debates about economics. These are matters of day-to-day reality for those young South Africans born into a democratic South Africa who have grown up in an environment marked by unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, and lack of upward social mobility. The youth’s perception of the state is thus not defined by any direct experience of apartheid, but rather by their evaluation of democracy’s achievements. This generational shift has also affected discourses on education, identity, and knowledge. Campaigns such as Rhodes Must Fall and Fees Must Fall have shown that the need for transformation goes beyond elections. Issues regarding university curriculum, language, statues, institutional culture, and the legacy of colonialism in education have become an important part of the struggle about the production of knowledge and the representation of knowledge and experiences within institutions of the nation. Decolonization is thus part of South Africa’s incomplete democratic process. Political freedom and equality enshrined in the constitution do not necessarily dismantle hierarchical relations within education and culture.
The quest for a new national identity is no less difficult. The image of the Rainbow Nation proposed by Nelson Mandela provided strong rhetoric of reconciliation and citizenship following years of racial segregation. However, reconciliation has had to battle the continuing facts of wealth inequality, dispossession and social segregation. Race continues to play an important role in South African life, but so do class, geographic location, language, nationality and generation. The connection between race and class is worth examining. The rise of a Black middle and professional class shows that the post-apartheid nation has witnessed significant shifts in economic engagement. However, there is also much poverty and inequality, sometimes even within the racially defined groups. In addition, the outbreak of xenophobic violence and discrimination against African migrants shows the discrepancy between South Africa’s Pan-African tradition of liberation struggle and narrow conceptions of citizenship. A democratic national identity should therefore consider the past injustices without forgetting about the values of equality, human dignity and unity with other parts of Africa.
These kinds of social and economic pressures have also put the government and its institutions under constant scrutiny. Despite having a progressive constitution, an independent judiciary, competitive politics, and a vibrant civil society, a country may still struggle to deliver electricity, water, transport, security, and good governance in its municipalities. State capture under President Jacob Zuma has also highlighted the impact of corruption on institutional decline. Institutional transformation thus involves not only replacing political leadership but also professionalizing public administration, ensuring transparency in procurement, and strengthening oversight and management of public resources. The internal difficulties facing South Africa have implications for its foreign policy as well. Its economic infrastructure, diplomatic relationships, and membership in BRICS and the African Union give it scope to influence regional and international discourses. The country’s foreign policy strategy can be seen as an effort to balance relations with Western economies, emerging powers, other African countries, and the reform of international institutions.
However, visibility abroad cannot be achieved at the expense of capability domestically. Any nation that faces challenges such as unemployment, poor infrastructure and financial constraints must find ways of reconciling its diplomatic aspirations with the practicalities of governance and development. The power of South Africa to affect events both regionally and internationally will come down to more than just its diplomatic clout alone.
The overall issue that emerges from this history is that of the difference between political and substantive freedom. The right to vote, freedom of speech, and equality under the law are all key elements in any democracy. Substantive freedom also demands access to education, healthcare, housing, employment, security, and opportunities for economic activity. All of this is not necessarily achieved through constitutional change alone. The destiny of South Africa can go in various directions. Good coalitions and institutional changes would enhance democratic consolidation. Political instability, poor economic performance, and continued failures of service delivery would increase public discontent. On the other hand, good investments, job creation, education reform, and economic involvement would help bring more reality into the promises of liberation. None of the options is guaranteed; the decisions of political leaders, institutions, the economy, and citizens will determine all.
The importance of this historical moment goes far beyond the borders of South Africa. Its history poses some questions that are relevant to the whole African continent, specifically to those nations where the struggles of liberation movements failed to secure their legitimacy as governments. The victory of political independence should not be seen as the ultimate victory over lack of freedom. The state of democracy is defined by its ability to justify its existence and prove that it provides better conditions for humans to live in. The first important historical shift that South Africa has gone through is from apartheid to democracy. The second is even more difficult, as it means shifting from the idea of freedom to the practice of economic opportunity and social justice. What comes next in South Africa’s history depends on whether democracy can overcome the legacy of the past and give meaning to citizenship for its millions of people.