A mission of transformation: The ANC’s historical project turned one-party demise

Abstract

Following the first democratic elections in 1994 South Africa experienced one-party dominance with the African National Congress winning six consecutive national elections. This was until the 2024 elections. This article engages with two questions: What explains the ANC’s initial dominance? And, what accounts for its recent decline? According to Ken Greene’s (2007) resource theory, party dominance persists when there is a large public sector and an acquiescent public bureaucracy but declines with privatisation and the professionalisation of the public sector. Using this theory, it is argued that under the justification of ‘transformation’ the ANC deployed cadres and adopted policies to extend its access to state-owned resources. However, this consequently led to poor public administration, and a decline in public trust, with subsequent pressures to professionalise the bureaucracy and privatise state entities. In its attempts to entrench its dominance, the ANC lost sight of public interest and initiated its own demise.