PHUMZA SOKANA | There’s an unspoken sense of loyalty to the ANC among many Eastern Cape voters — here’s why

Now that the dust has settled and the government of national unity is in place, it’s time to look at the criticism against rural communities and elderly people who continue to vote for the ANC in South Africa’s general elections. Disclaimer: do not shoot the messenger as I also agree with most of the sentiments widely shared on social media and other discussion spaces.

The Eastern Cape and Limpopo provinces were at the receiving end of some harsh criticism for giving the ANC 62.16% and 73.30% support respectively in the May 29 elections. The Eastern Cape, however, received the most criticism, with many pointing out that it is one of the poorest provinces in the country and that its people would soon be on television complaining about the same government they voted for.

I mostly agreed with the commentary as I believe in being the change we want to see. As election fever receded though, my mind was still trying to make sense of the discussions around the election outcomes in the two provinces and the attack on Eastern Cape voters. What could be driving them to continue voting that way and what’s the rationale behind their choices? Those were the recurring questions.

Walk with me as I try to understand them. As someone who hails from that province, a few personal experiences and conversations with fellow Eastern Cape residents came to mind. Growing up in one of the most rural areas of that province was not easy. We had no access to clean water, electricity, roads, safe schools and, in some cases like mine, no high schools nearby or transport to get there.

The stereotypical rural chores like fetching water from rivers 5km away, fetching firewood from dangerous forests before one can cook and walking 10km to get to the nearest school — I’ve done it all. My primary school, Dengwane Junior Secondary School in Mount Fletcher, was all mud structures — they even had a rondavel. Every Friday, we had to fetch water from the river and look for cow dung to clean the floors. I know of at least three people who drowned in my village because there was no bridge.

It was during former president Nelson Mandela’s tenure when the Reconstruction & Development Programme was implemented and we began to see change in my village — the first being a school building, which was later extended. When his successor Thabo Mbeki took over, we saw more services and development. A road connecting our village to the R56 tarred road was built with a proper bridge, quickly followed by electrification of most villages around ours. Communal water taps were also installed.

Later came scholar transport, which meant children no longer had to walk in the dangerous mielie fields, sometimes alone, to get to the nearest high school. The introduction of no-fee schools meant parents didn’t have to take the little they had to pay school fees for their children, no matter how little the amount was. They also had access to the child support grant which was first introduced in 1998. Young people who could not afford university fees could finally get tertiary education through the government's national student financial aid scheme (NSFAS). 

Now, for some of us who wanted more for ourselves, this was obviously not enough — especially because a couple of decades later we are struggling with issues such as load-shedding. We were also mindful of the fact that these remain issues some communities still have to grapple with.

For many who no longer had to endanger themselves for basic necessities such as access to water and means to cook, or navigate dangerous bridges trying to get to town, the ANC-led government had delivered on all its promises. The view from some is even issues like load-shedding, a thorn in the side of many South Africans, is not major for them because they went from no electricity at all to access to electricity daily for 22 of 24 hours — and that’s enough for their needs. It’s still much better than their “sorry” lives before 1994, before the ANC took to power.

With regards to the Eastern Cape’s broader ties to the ANC, the view from some is there has always been a sense of pride that came with being from the “home of legends”, as the province is dubbed. The name came from the many celebrated struggle icons who hail from there. These include Alfred Xuma, who was the president-general of the ANC from 1940 to 1949, Oliver Reginald Tambo, who was the ANC president from 1967 to 1991, and Walter Sisulu, who served the party as secretary-general from 1949 to 1954 and deputy president (1991—1994).

Others include former presidents Mandela and Mbeki, archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu, Govan Mbeki, Chris Hani, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Robert Sobukwe, who later left the ANC to form the PAC, Steve Biko, who was at the forefront of a grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known as the Black Consciousness Movement during the late 1960s and 1970s and endorsed the unification of South Africa's black liberation groups — among them the BCM, PAC and ANC — to concentrate their anti-apartheid efforts. There are many more who could be mentioned here.

The ANC-led liberation struggle, to many, is lumped together with the less talked about Eastern Cape wars of dispossession or Xhosa Wars, a series of nine wars (from 1779-1879) between the Xhosa kingdom and the British Empire, as well as the Trekboers in what is now the Eastern Cape. These events were the longest-running military resistance against European colonialism in Africa. 

On May 12 1835, amaXhosa King Hintsa, who was about 45 then, was riding as a prisoner in the company of British soldiers led by Governor Harry Smith when Lieutenant George Southey fired at him. He hit him in the head and killed him instantly on the banks of the Nqabarha River. Hintsa was renowned for his ability to unite his people and to marshal them in the fight against the colonial invasion by the British.

His body was dismembered by the British troops and his head severed and taken back to Britain. He is just one example of how brutal the wars were, and such bad memories — worsened by the more recent ruthless apartheid rule — live on in the minds of some in his birth province. 

Of course, factors such as voter education contribute to their decision to stick with the ANC, despite its questionable track record, and it doesn’t help that some political parties are not as visible in rural areas.

There seems, therefore, to be an unspoken sense of loyalty to freedom fighters and the ANC that many Eastern Cape voters share. For them, the party delivered. These may be some of the reasons for their choice of government.

So, in our disgust and condemnation, remember, people often experience the same things differently based on their history and experiences. That being said, the ANC should learn from their dwindling support in other parts of the country and remember their own motto — a better life for all — or they will soon lose the support of provinces like the Eastern Cape and Limpopo too.