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DEMOCRACY TODAY
The fact that one party is still so dominant only exacerbates this
problem and consequent lack of freedom, as does the fact that the party
rules as part of a tri-partite alliance with another party (the SACP) and
the main Trade Union umbrella body (COSATU). In recent times this
gap has been further reduced by the tendency of the ruling part to claim
constantly and aggressively that it, and it alone, represents ‘the people’,
and that not only are other claims to represent ‘the people’ dubious
but also worthy of being silenced. This is most obvious in two related
quarters: a) the constant eroding of the power of the legislature in favour
of the power of the executive; and b) an associated tendency to fail to
distinguish between the state and the party. The latter is exemplified
by the fact that when the party makes a decision it claims that it is a
decision made by ‘the people’ (as with the recall of Mbeki as president);
and when it is suggested that the strength of the ruling party and the
lack of a viable opposition party does not undermine democracy since
‘the party’ structures are themselves fully democratic. These claims
mistakenly identify ‘the party’ with ‘the people’ and thus ‘the state’,
which not only gives the party the unique and complete legitimacy of
rule that it seeks, but also silences all other groups and their representatives.
This is a deeply ironic and unfortunate development since
in healthy polities the party acts as one of the many important groups
and (sets of) representatives that occupy the gap between the rulers
and the ruled. [35] At present in South Africa not only is the executive
usurping the power of the legislature, but the ruling party is usurping
the power of the people as it situates itself as a microcosm or exact copy
of the democratic polity it ought to be creating: the party attempts to
represent the people (in the sense of copying them) rather than act as
one amongst many representative versions of the people for the people
to judge and choose.
This tendency by the ANC to silence opposing groups and their
representatives prior even to judgement by ‘the people’, is a perfect
instance of erosion not only of particular freedoms in society, but also
the freedoms of these silenced groups and thus the freedom of their
members. The various groups that constitute South African society
are represented in different ways, and have differing levels of power to
35
Ankersmit, Political Representation, pp. 125-32.