ANC branded ‘the biggest threat to stability in SA’ by major new study

A groundbreaking study by produced by the Government and Public Policy (GAPP) group is set to lift the lid on South Africa’s fragile state – and researchers are placing most of the blame on the ANC’s doorstep.

ANC branded ‘biggest threat to stability’ in South Africa

The data, which is set to be made available to the public soon, was carried in an article published by the Daily Maverick on Monday. A number of these revelations are nothing short of mind-blowing.

Amongst some of the findings, it is stated that the biggest cause of protests, unrest and violence in South Africa is not rampant poverty or poor service delivery – but rather, the ANC and its own political dramas.

Protests, unrest ‘largely caused by ruling party’

The study concludes that infighting within the ruling party forces regional political heavyweights to flex their muscles in extremely disruptive ways. Most protests, they claim, erupt as a result of ANC squabbling – and communities are coaxed into kicking-off, as a means of expressing ‘who is really in charge’.

It is also noted that South Africa has entered an ‘unprecedented phase of violent instability’, following the riots of July 2021. Data provided by SAPS and the ISS also reveals that political assassinations are on the rise, and unrest events are gaining an ‘increasingly national foothold’.

ANC elites ‘behind violent protests’ – GAPP study

However, the foremost conclusion of this study is that the ANC is, categorically, the ‘most significant cause of political instability currently facing South Africa’. Now, that statement is wild enough, but when you consider that this research is GOVERNMENT-BACKED, it certainly sets the alarm bells ringing.

• Whichever way you look at it, President Ramaphosa has an enormous task on his hands.

“Elite contestation in the ruling party is the most significant cause of political instability and conflict in SA today. The rise in conflicts since 2009 is more likely the consequence of revolts in the ANC, and therefore, South Africa has likely entered a phase of ongoing, violent instability.”

“What is underestimated in South Africa is the degree to which political protest is an organised activity directed by political elites, largely from within the ANC. Protest events are often organised by power brokers in the organisation contesting for authority in a local or national structure or seeking to maintain their power”.

GAPP study