In an article titled The Age of the End of Nationalism, political economist Moeletsi Mbeki argues that the electoral decline of the African National Congress (ANC) is evidence that South African voters have rejected African nationalism and that South Africa has finally entered the age of the end of nationalism. Mbeki further contends that African nationalism, with its prioritisation of elite enrichment and consumption over productive commercial activity, is responsible for the socioeconomic crisis, which is characterised by, among other things, deindustrialisation, low economic growth, and the mass poverty of the African underclass.
To contextualise his latter argument historically, Mbeki traces the origins of African nationalism to an African elite that would go on to establish what later became the ANC. This nationalist elite, he notes, felt aggrieved by its political and economic exclusion from the British colonial system and sought inclusion within it. Unlike the Afrikaner nationalist elite, which was largely a property-owning group with productive infrastructure it sought to expand through state power, the African nationalist elite was largely professional, with no productive infrastructure of its own to expand.
Consequently, when it assumed state power after 1994, its nationalism took on an unproductive character in practice. Instead of expanding the state’s productive infrastructure and building infrastructure of its own, Mbeki notes that the African nationalist elite made inclusion and consumption its primary objectives. Policy instruments such as Employment Equity and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) were introduced by it as mechanisms to facilitate rent-seeking both in the private sector and the state, through state-owned enterprises, for example.
Consumption, Mbeki continues, became the order of the day, while investment in productive infrastructure was neglected. More than three decades later, the consequences of this approach have become apparent. Millions of those who constitute the African underclass continue to bear the brunt of poverty while the African nationalist elite continues to consume productive resources that should instead be invested in building productive infrastructure.
One conclusion Mbeki draws from his account of African nationalism appears to be a generalised claim about the limitations of nationalism as a political ideology. He states:
“Nationalism is a social and political movement that is driven by a deep sense of grievance. Population groups become aggrieved when they feel a strong sense of exclusion from enjoying the political, social and economic benefits in a given society.
In the case of SA, we have two schools of nationalism - Afrikaner nationalism and African nationalism - both of which have been driven by groups aggrieved for being excluded by the British from the benefits created by British colonialism.
Afrikaner nationalists were aggrieved because the British excluded them from the gold and diamond industry and from finance. African nationalists were aggrieved because they were excluded from economic ownership in general and from political power.
Nationalists therefore do not fight to change the socioeconomic structure of the colonial system. They fight to be included in it. Both the Afrikaner nationalists and the African nationalists fought to be included in the British-created colonial economic system.”
Elsewhere, Mbeki argues that nationalism is problematic because it breeds entitlement.
While there is some agreement with Mbeki on the origins of African nationalism, the ANC’s failure to create a conducive environment for the development of productive infrastructure, and the tendency of nationalism to arise from grievance, this essay disagrees with the view that South Africa has entered the age of the end of nationalism. It further disagrees that African nationalism - understood solely through its origins in the African nationalist elite of the early twentieth century - is responsible for the ANC’s pursuit of inclusion after 1994 and for the country’s socioeconomic crisis. More broadly, it disputes Mbeki’s generalised claim that nationalism necessarily breeds entitlement and a desire for inclusion within established structures.
African nationalism remains an enduring political ideology in South African politics, with political parties such as uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK Party) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) exemplifying its statist variety. Further, this particular variety of African nationalism, which emerged from the interaction between African nationalism and socialism after the period of the ANC’s founding nationalist elite, is responsible for the party’s pursuit of inclusion after 1994 and for South Africa’s socioeconomic crisis. While nationalism tends to arise from grievance, it does not necessarily breed entitlement or a desire for inclusion within established structures. African nationalism can be a constructive political ideology if it divorces itself from the statist paradigm that it acquired through its interaction with socialism.
Ayanda Sakhile Zulu holds a BSocSci in Political Studies from the University of Pretoria and is a Policy Officer at the Free Market Foundation.
