South Africa’s Mono Party: Are politicians ushering in an age of futility?

South Africa is a nation that often requires a unique twist on standard definitions.

The traditional meaning of Mono Party would be the strict one-party system common in authoritarian nations, or those that lack a recognised opposition.

A fresher definition of Mono Party exists in the bowls of the internet. The modern Mono Party presents contrasting ideologies to voters, but behind the veil they work to preserve their own interests.  

The result is the illusion of choice.

Lip-service over genuine action

The best examples of this are the Anglo-Western superpowers, Britain and the United States.

Save for select culture-war issues that help swing the pendulum every decade or so, Republican and Democrat lawmakers are almost indistinguishable, as are their Labour and Conservative counterparts across the Atlantic.     

When South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU) was first touted, it seemed impossible that the opposing ideologies of the ANC and DA could mesh.

But we should never underestimate the intoxicating persuasions offered by a seat at the highest table.  

The threat of a collapsing Rand was used throughout June to beat detractors into submission, reasoning that no fate -even an ANC/DA merge – could be worse than the horrors brought on about by those men from Seshego and Nkandla.

You could argue that this narrative was guided from behind the veil by party donors and the financial class, muddying where true loyalties lie.

This also reeks of a ‘we know best’ attitude prevalent among political leaders. Whatever the circumstances, they can always spin a GNU as being best for the country.

The GNU could work well… for the politicians

The issue is not whether the GNU can function effectively, it is the risk of signatories getting so cosy with each other that they lose the incentive to disrupt the status quo.

They will put their hands on their hearts and swear loyalty to their party manifesto, but what follows is contrived political theatrics and a stagnation of ideas that cement the current parliamentary composition.

In 2024, the great compromises are being hailed as moments of maturity, but if the vote split is similar in 2029 and 2034, those compromises will feel like a well-worn glove.

Ask yourself if politicians would ever lie to their constituents or put their interests ahead of the wider population.

If the GNU was a classroom experiment, the tiniest green shoots would be visible under the cotton wool. It has a long way to go before its roots are firmly embedded in the nation’s soil.

And once the roots take hold – they become difficult to dislodge.