The ANC in its malgovernance has put the future of the South African state under stress. We are faced with a situation where the state itself may collapse. And while the DA, the second largest party, has very low credibility, its long period of governance in the Western Cape deserves study.

South Africa has just completed its general election, the first in 30 years where the ANC has failed to secure a majority of the votes. Before the voting, it was already being billed as the most important election since 1994, precisely because of the possibility of the ANC being defeated or failing to secure a majority of the votes.

It is true that it is of great significance that the ANC has failed to achieve a majority. It is not so much an achievement of opposition parties in the sense of them having performed so well in their capacities as political parties, as that the ANC itself has been its own undoing through corruption, illegality and failure to perform its public duties in a manner that accords with its mandate and norms of public service (which are more open to debate than some suggest).

Whatever combination of parties takes the reins of government enters a situation of an all-round crisis of the state. In this situation of crisis of public life in every sphere that we can point to - the roads, electricity, water, healthcare, housing, schooling and so forth - there are no easy ways for these to be...