What’s left of ‘the left’ in post-apartheid South Africa?

Abstract

This article addresses the question of ‘the left’ in contemporary South Africa in two senses: first, in terms of assessing the health of leftist politics; second, it asks to what extent are the self-identified left progressive in any meaningful sense. The first half of this article reflects on the current development situation in South Africa. Here, it is argued that within most sections of the South African left, there is broad agreement on the need to address the triple challenge of unemployment, rising inequality and poverty. The second half of this article identifies three broad sections to the contemporary left in South Africa (the Tripartite Alliance, the left outside the Alliance and the remnants of the revolutionary socialist left). It argues that the left within the Alliance, despite the launch of the New Growth Path, are failing to implement the sufficiently radical policy changes that are required to address the development challenges identified in the first half of this article. The left outside the Alliance, meanwhile, despite recent attempts at coordination, lacks influence and remains disconnected from the masses.