UCT distinguished alumni lecture: South Africa’s second transition and The ‘GNU’: miracle or mirage?

UCT DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI LECTURE SOUTH AFRICA’S SECOND TRANSITION AND

THE ‘GNU’: MIRACLE OR MIRAGE?

Emeritus Associate Professor Richard Calland, University of Cape Town; Director, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership New Africa Programme

Saturday 25 January  4.00–5.00 pm  RECEPTION at 5.00 pm

This lecture is FREE but booking is essential to secure a place.

Three decades after South Africa’s transition to democracy, the country is now well into its ‘second transition’ – the end of three decades of one party dominance. Having convincingly won the previous six national elections, the ANC decisively lost its majority in May 2024. This represented a watershed moment, ushering in a new era of power-sharing. The rise of MK signalled that South Africa was joining the legion of countries facing the rise of rugged populism. However, after a short but intense period of negotiation, a centralist so-called Government of National Unity (GNU) emerged. This lecture will pose and seek to answer the questions: Miracle or mirage? Will the centre continue to hold? Can a coalition government deliver the tangible change so urgently needed? What is the longer-term prognosis for democratic consolidation?

Longtime analyst and expert commentator at the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), Professor Calland will conclude by suggesting what is likely to be raised at SONA in February 2025, ten months after the national elections and the subsequent creation of the GNU.

TO BOOK: https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/performance.aspx?itemid=1554650124

Following 16 years based at the University of Cape Town as an Associate Professor in Public Law from 2007-2023, Richard Calland is now an Emeritus Associate Professor at UCT and a Visiting Adjunct Professor at the University of Witwatersrand School of Governance. Since 2022, he has led the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)’s new Board Leadership programme and in mid-2023 was appointed as Director of CISL’s new Africa programme. A prominent political analyst, and a columnist for the Mail & Guardian newspaper in South Africa since 2001, his latest book – The Presidents: From Mandela to Ramaphosa, Leadership in The Age of Crisis (with Mabel Sithole) – was published in late 2022. Earlier books include Anatomy of South Africa: Who holds the power? (2006), The Zuma Years (2012) and Make or Break: How the next three years will shape South Africa’s next three decades (2016).