by Nellie Peyton and Nqobile Dludla
QUNU, SOUTH AFRICA, May 23 (Reuters) – In Qunu, the town where Nelson Mandela grew up, there has been no running water since 2016, jobs are scarce and crime is on the rise.
As the South African elections on May 29 approach, the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party, still garners strong support from older voters, but younger voters, who do not remember the days of Mandela and his victory against apartheid, move away from it.
“I will vote for the ANC until I die,” Mzwandile Mthembu, 65, told Reuters. He has no electricity in his concrete shack, but he receives a retirement allowance and is grateful for his freedom.
Across the road, Lungile Xozwa, 37, says he has had enough of the old guard and wants to vote for the opposition.
“Mandela is gone. Now is our time,” says the public health researcher in his small, sparsely furnished house with a pit latrine in the courtyard.
The challenges in Qunu, in the Eastern Cape province, are echoed across South Africa: unemployment is near a record high, murders are on the rise and basic services, including electricity, are failing. are unreliable.
According to polls and political analysts, widespread discontent is expected to cost the ANC its majority in the next election, for the first time since 1994, and force it to form a coalition.
The ANC would only collect 39% of voting intentions, even if the party has twice as many votes as any other party.
UNEVEN PROGRESS
The Qunu region was once one of the small territories that the apartheid government allocated to the black population, until the ANC helped establish a multiracial democracy in 1994.
When the ANC came to power, the party faced the colossal task of extending services to the estimated 87% of citizens of color. While it has achieved notable successes, progress has been uneven.
According to household surveys, around 90% of South African homes were connected to electricity in 2022, up from 54% in 1994, but power cuts have gotten worse for everyone.
The government has built about three million new homes for poor families, according to the Housing Administration, but there are some 2.5 million households on the waiting list.
Qunu gained electricity and running water in the 1990s, before losing access to water around 2016 due to lack of maintenance of the system.
“I see what the ANC is doing for other communities, but here it is rare. We have no water and we have gravel roads,” underlines Phila Gogozayo, 24 years old and unemployed.
The young woman indicates that she will vote for the Economic Freedom Fighters, a left-wing party, which is one of the two main opposition parties alongside the Democratic Alliance.
In Qunu, some disaffected young people say they have not registered on the electoral lists or are still undecided.
At the national level, no opposition movement has emerged to capture the youth vote, notes independent analyst Ralph Mathekga.
“The domination of the ANC in society is not only political, it is also social,” he notes. “It’s not easy to overcome.” (Reporting Nqobile Dludla, written by Nellie Peyton; French version Gaëlle Sheehan, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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