Claire-Anne Lester is a lecturer in sociology at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
Ten years ago this month, 34 striking mine workers in South Africa were slaughtered by police on live TV. The Marikana massacre exposed the deep ills of the postapartheid status quo — and the urgent need to build working-class power in the country.
The late anti-apartheid leader Archbishop Desmond Tutu was no neoliberal sellout. His legacy was always to advocate structural reforms in South Africa.
Amid mass unemployment and soaring inequality, voters in today’s South African election are getting sick of the ANC’s broken promises. But there’s no real alternative for them in sight.