아프리카ㆍ중동

Is South Africa leaving the era of Nelson Mandela? After the country’s 19 years of de facto single party rule under the African National Congress (ANC), the party of Mandela and of liberation has experienced serious internal divisions over leadership personality, alleged corruption, and ideological conflict. Such divisions led prominent ANC vanguard Mosiua Letoka to officially sever his ties with the ANC and found the Congress of the People (COPE). Letoka, who was the former defense minister and close ally of recently-ousted president Thabo Mbeki, signaled a acute change in atmosphere of South African politics. What is certain, however, is that the challenge presented by COPE will be a catalyst for internal change within the ANC. Most importantly, the emergence of COPE has the potential to highlight the intensity of ethnic and tribal division within the ANC and the South African political establishment. This has always been more prominent in the opposition parties, such as the Democratic Party (DA) or Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). The DA has been long criticized for inheriting the crux of the Democratic Party during apartheid, establishing itself as a “pro-white” party even till today. IFP has always been firmly rooted in its KwaZuluNatal turf, rarely influencing the political arena beyond its Zulu base. Yet, the ANC has been able to avoid this slippage into the ethno-nationalistic politics through rotation of top positions and more subtle procedural conventions. Lethoka, however, has brought to light that this mechanism of forestalling ethnic mobilization has failed, and the ANC must look towards reform.