Does the ANC intend to continue the government's conservative economic policy direction, or even worse, double down and move its economic policies rightwards?

Read Part One here and Part Two here.

If so, the ANC will condemn itself to irrelevance, and disappear as a serious political force. This is the lesson of history. While some may welcome this, we need to think carefully about what the alternative is, and what the impact of the ANC's decline will be on society.

To understand the reality of the stark choice facing the ANC, we only need to look at the history of the decline of national liberation parties which have lost touch with the people, as well as recent experiences of centrist and previous social democratic parties who have abandoned redistributive economic policies, and embraced neoliberalism.

The former have lost their mantle of liberation movements, and been reduced to the status of minor political players. The latter have been wiped out in many countries in Europe and elsewhere, and are increasingly being replaced by a wave of economic conservatism and right-wing populism.

Despite all the signs being there for some time, there were two major "shocks" in these elections: the collapse in support for the ANC and the collapse in voter turnout, reflecting widespread disillusionment with our democracy.

What lies at the root...