GRACIOUS IN DEFEAT

Rajika Jayatilake is impressed by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s show of humility and respect for democracy in South Africa

South Africa has taught many lessons to the world; its revered late president Nelson Mandela led the way with his timeless wisdom. Recently, South Africa had another lesson to offer the world – how to respect democracy and hold elections in the face of certain defeat, and how to be gracious in the process.

On 20 February, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa declared 29 May the day for its general elections. This would be the country’s seventh general elections following the end of apartheid in 1994.

Even though national polls leading up to general elections showed that support for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) had declined with widespread anticipation of a hung parliament, Ramaphosa made no attempt to delay the poll.

On 29 May, voter turnout was indeed poor with South Africans having lost faith in politics. Burdened by real unemployment being higher than the official 32.9 percent, and with persistent economic inequalities aggravated by widespread corruption and an inefficient public service, the people demanded a change through their vote.

That is why the ANC, which had been in power for 30 years since Mandela became South Africa’s first black president in 1994, failed to win this time around. It received only 40.2 percent of the vote when over 50 percent was required to remain in power.

The South African people sent a clear message to their politicians that they are not willing to grant a majority to any single party to wield power.

Ramaphosa graciously accepted the people’s verdict and said: “Our people have spoken, whether we like it or not. Through their votes, they have demonstrated clearly and plainly that our democracy is strong, [and] that our democracy is robust and enduring.”

With no outright winner following the elections, the country’s political parties couldn’t form a government for two weeks.

The ANC, leading with the highest number of votes, sought a coalition government, which it termed a ‘Government of National Unity (GNU)’. And it invited 17 other political parties to join the GNU.

However, some parties refused to join the coalition due to ideological differences. Among them were the left oriented Economic Freedom Fighters and former South African president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party, which together accounted for 25 percent of the people’s vote.

On 30 June, Ramaphosa announced a new government composed of 11 political parties. Ramaphosa himself was reelected as South Africa’s president for a second term after the ANC negotiated a last-minute deal with its political rivals.

This 11 party coalition is the largest and most diverse that South Africa has had, with political rivals and adversaries coming together to share power in local and provincial offices. There even appears to be a return of a Mandela-like spirit of reconciliation, which ensured a peaceful transition to democracy back in 1994.

Leader of the historically white Democratic Alliance party (DA) John Steenhuisen said that “the time for confrontation is over. The time for collaboration has arrived. Politicians and political parties did not create the new government. The people did.”

Nevertheless, what’s really uniting the diverse political parties is Ramaphosa’s ability to accept and engage the shifting dynamic of sharing power.

Dr. Mattie Webb is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University with expertise on South African history. He posted the following on the social media platform X: “Say what you want to say about Cyril Ramaphosa, [his] grace and humility in the face of a real defeat is admirable and really holds this country together.”

In fact, during the time of ending apartheid in 1994, Ramaphosa was Mandela’s chief negotiator and he earned a reputation for being calm.

Meanwhile, prominent politician and chief negotiator for the National Party’s (NP) apartheid government during the 1994 dismantling of the system Roelf Meyer recently spoke about the efforts at reconciliation and establishing democracy.

He said: “It’s a matter of realising the responsibility. We didn’t have mediators; it was just us. We built a relationship. You have to accept that you must put aside egos.”

Without doubt, it is Ramaphosa’s ability to be humble that’s setting the necessary tone for governance in a volatile social and economic environment.

In his second inaugural address, he declared: “In their multitude, in voices that are many and diverse, the people of South Africa have voted and made known their wishes, their concerns and their expectations. We accept and respect the results of the elections, and we once again say the people have spoken. Their will shall be done without any doubt or question.”

It bodes well for South Africa that the country’s political leaders can potentially enable a renewal of freedom through humility, honesty and goodwill. They appear to have understood the consequences of neglecting the needs of the people.

As Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney Prof. John Keane says, “humility is a vital resource that strengthens the powerless and tames the powerful.”