An incisive analysis of South Africa's ANC power-as party, as government, as state

South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) is in decline, its hegemony has been weakened, its legitimacy diluted. President Cyril Ramaphosa's appointment suspended the ANC's electoral decline, it also heightened internal tensions between those who would deepen its acquired status as corrupt and captured, and those who would remodel it as redeemable. These are the incontrovertible knowns of South African politics; what will evolve from this is less certain.

In Precarious Power, renowned political scientist Susan Booysen uses in-depth research and analysis to distill that which is bound to shape South Africa's political future, Booysen focuses on contradictory party politics and internal ANC dissent that is veiled for the sake of retaining an electoral following. Also exposed is the incongruous, populist policy­making, protest politics and the use of soft law to ensure it does not alienate angry citizens, fueling further discontent and protest. The ANC's power has become exceedingly precarious. Precarious Power is the name of the political game, for the foreseeable future.

The comprehensive analysis in Precarious Power will appeal not only to political scientists and postgraduate students, but to all who take a keen interest in current affairs.

Susan Booysen is a political analyst and commentator. She is professor emeritus at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and visiting professor at the Wits School of Governance. She is author of The ANC and the Regeneration of Political Power (2011) and Dominance and Decline: The ANC in the Time of Zuma (2015).

What happens when a former liberation movement turned political party loses its dominance but survives because no opposition party is able to succeed it? The trends are established: South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) is in decline. Its hegemony has been weakened, its legitimacy diluted. President Cyril Ramaphosa's appointment suspended the ANC's electoral decline, but it also heightened internal organisational tensions between those who would deepen its corrupt and captured status, and those who would redeem it. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened its fragility, and the state's inability to manage the socio-economic devastation has aggravated prior faultlines. These are the undeniable knowns of South African politics; what will evolve from this is less certain. In her latest book Precarious Power Susan Booyen delves deep into this political terrain and its trajectory for South Africa's future. She covers an expansive range of topics, from contradictory party politics and dissent that is veiled in order to retain electoral following, to populist policy-making and the use of soft law enforcement to ensure that angry citizens do not become further alienated. Booysen's analysis reveals Ramaphosa to be a president who is weak and walking a tightrope between serving the needs of the organisation and those of the nation. While he rose to the challenge of being a national leader during the COVID-19 pandemic, the crisis has highlighted existing inequalities in South Africa and discontent has grown. The ANC's power has indeed become exceedingly precarious, and this seems unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. This incisive analysis of ANC power - as party, as government, as state - will appeal not only to political scientists but to all who take a keen interest in current affairs.

Tables and Figures
Preface
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Chapter 1 The ANC and Precarious Power
Chapter 2 Shootouts Under the Cloak of ANC Unity
Chapter 3 Boosted Election Victory, Porous Power
Chapter 4 Presidency of Hope, Shadows and Strategic Allusion
Chapter 5 Courts and Commissions as Crutches Amid Self-Annihilation
Chapter 6 Reconstituting the Limping State
Chapter 7 Parallelism, Populism and Proxy as Tools in Policy Wars
Chapter 8 Protest as Parallel Policy-Making and Governance
Chapter 9 Parallel Power, Shedding Power and Staying in Power
Select Bibliography
Index