User:Nreeb/2024 South African general election

Energy crisis

Main article: South African energy crisis

Rolling blackouts, or "loadshedding", caused by problems with the state utility Eskom have been occurring since 2007, however the prevalence of blackouts has increased substantially since 2020. There is general dissatisfaction with the ANC's handling of the blackouts, as "a poll from last May found that 24% of voters who had previously backed the ANC planned to take their votes elsewhere if load shedding... is not resolved." That being said, the issue will likely continue to be salient well after the election, as any government, new or incumbent, will have limited tools to combat the issue.

The parties have taken varying stances on the issue. The ANC has pledged to create 12.5 million new jobs, a large portion of which will be devoted to a clean energy transition and modernization of the nation's electrical system. The ANC has also linked the blackouts and energy crisis to environmental justice and climate change, claiming that its energy transition platform is also part of a larger transition to a cleaner economy. According to the ANC's election manifesto, the party pledges to "cultivate partnerships to expand domestic industries with significant potential to create sustainable jobs... such as energy." Additionally, the party views a clean energy transition as essential in solving the energy crisis. Part of this transition is moving away from the coal-based electrical grid that is currently facing loadshedding. That being said, the ANC has shown historical resistance to transitioning to new energy sources (ie. renewables). Much of this has to do with concerns about the cost of the transition, as well as the ability for Eskom to carry out a transition effectively.

The DA largely blames the ANC for Africa's energy crisis, claiming that the state uses an "outdated" model of control and regulation. The DA intends to reduce government control over the energy sector if it is able to form a government. Using the Western Cape as a case study, the DA claims it has a successful platform for energy solutions. They argue that recent contracts to build new solar plants in the area are indicative of this. However, the DA has done little to tie the issue to environmental justice. Their election manifesto has little mention of climate change, or how it will be addressed, especially when it comes to energy production. Much of their energy platform has to do with deregulation and reducing taxes on private entities.

Other smaller parties take a range of stances on the energy crisis. The EFF, for instance, takes a more Marxist and black nationalist approach to the issue. The party calls for the end of the privatization of Eskom. This runs in stark contrast to both the ANC and DA. The ANC has been open to some degree of privatization, while the DA fully endorses it. The EFF overtly links the issue to both racial and environmental justice. In line with their black nationalist perspectives, the party calls for the involvement of the private sector in new electricity generation (not the privatization of Eskom), hoping to shift control to the "majority of black people."

All this withstanding, the energy crisis has undoubtedly become a salient issue due to its wide-ranging impacts. The loadshedding affects both rural and urban areas. In rural areas, the blackouts have led to large issues in agricultural production. For instance, if a farm is reliant on electricity-powered irrigation pumps, then production capacity is greatly limited by blackouts. In urban areas, the blackouts necessitate the use of diesel generators, which increases air pollution. Additionally, the rolling blackouts lead to the continued use of coal in electricity plants. When generation capacity is low, it creates "grounds to keep coal-fired units running with emissions above the license limits." Back to the environmental impact on rural areas, loadshedding reduces the capacity of large agricultural enterprises. This increases sustenance farming practices without any significant reduction in agribusiness. This creates a potential for deforestation. On top of this, all the parties are attempting to navigate a transition to cleaner sources of energy. South Africa's power grid is largely dependent on aging coal infrastructure, which is becoming increasingly ineffective and environmentally toxic. All major parties, including the EFF, are open to the involvement of private companies helping to generate cleaner energy, as the transition, as a government-only transition is not feasible. The amount of involvement by private companies, however, differs by party and is a point of major contention. These complexities, especially surrounding environmental justice, make the issue of loadshedding complex, forcing the parties to find solutions that help a wide variety of citizens who are all affected in very different ways.

Land reform

Main article: Land reform in South Africa

The ANC's proposed amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution of South Africa failed in the Parliament of South Africa, by a vote of 204 MPs in favour, 145 MPs against and 0 abstentions. The bill required a two-thirds majority. The constitutionality of the amendment was also questioned by civil society organisations. The ANC maintains that Expropriation without Compensation is necessary, as does the EFF. The DA and Freedom Front Plus, ACDP and IFP remain opposed to the ANC's renewed attempt at expropriation through the Expropriation Amendment Bill.

Moves towards expropriation without compensation are largely framed as solutions to racial injustice. In fact, many members of pro-expropriation parties view the policy as fulfilling Nelson Mandela's promise to return 30% of South Africa's land to black people. The issue of racial justice becomes particularly salient when looking at disparities in agricultural production and environmental harms. With the majority of land in South Africa being owned by white people. Reports from the South African government indicate that whites own 72% of total farms of agricultural holdings. This means that black South Africans are generally only responsible for between 5 and 10% of the country's agricultural output.

As is to be expected, the different parties have radically different positions on this issue. The ANC, as previously mentioned, sees the current policy as a continuation of Nelson Mandela's promise. The policy (returning 30% of the land to black South Africans) has obviously been unsuccessful thus far. Currently, the ANC hopes to accomplish the goal by 2030. In their election manifesto, the ANC claims that they will "accelerate land reform and redistribution to reduce asset inequality and protect security of tenure, improve food security and agricultural production, promote rural and urban development and enable greater access to housing." This type of rhetoric and argumentation appears repeatedly throughout the manifesto. To the ANC, it is clear that expropriation is a matter of multi-faceted racial justice. Similarly to the energy crisis, there is certainly an environmental aspect, as agricultural inequalities become particularly salient in the debate.

The EFF shares a similar stance to that of the ANC. In their manifesto, the EFF outlines seven pillars on which they are basing their policies. The first is explicitly in favor of expropriation, reading "expropriation of South Africa's land without compensation for equal redistribution in use." This stance makes sense given the parties Marxist and black nationalist ideology. On the issue of expropriation, the EFF and ANC are mostly unified. In fact, the EFF has often led the charge on expropriation, becoming one of the cause's biggest supporters. Julius Malema, leader of the EFF, asserted that "when we say economic freedom, we mean Black people own productive farms."

Oppositely, the DA does not support the policy of expropriation without compensation. The party sees attempts at expropriation as violating section 25 of the Constitution. Furthermore, when the ANC and other parties have attempted to amend the constitution to be more amenable to their proposals, the DA has stood in staunch opposition. The party has called attempts to pass expropriation legislation "ruinous," an "assault on our constitutional values," and "archaic."