Editorial Board
South Africa Votes for Change
After more than three decades, the African National Congress gets some real competition.
No longer boxed in.
Photographer: RODGER BOSCH/AFP/Getty ImagesSouth Africa’s voters have long had plenty to complain about. In municipal elections last week, they gave voice to their grievances. In what amounted to a referendum on the national government’s performance, they called for change.
Big wins by opposition parties in key municipalities could, with luck, push South Africa’s democracy away from racialism and outdated revolutionary rhetoric toward the overdue basics of good government.