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After the most powerful storm in decades battered South Africa’s Cape last month, local authorities stepped up quickly to contain the damage. The effective response highlights the growing inequality between the Western Cape and the rest of the country, which has failed to quell its own crises. It’s a glaring governance gap that will hurt the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party at next year’s polls.
For the ANC, the gains it has presided over in improving the lives of the poorest South Africans are being eroded by the snowballing consequences of 15 years of corruption and nepotism. Local government is visibly more dysfunctional than ever. As the party’s popularity has waned in the cities, municipal governments have been blighted by bickering coalitions. Johannesburg, the country’s economic engine, has had six mayors in the past two years. Tshwane (the metro including Pretoria) has had four.
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