Can the ANC Deliver?
Whether the ANC can deliver an improved life to the impoverished majority of South Africans within the parameters of GEAR remains very much in doubt. The prognosis is mixed and contradictory. The ANC gets high marks for encouraging the democratization of society. The new constitution is one of the most progressive in the world, defending not only freedom of speech and assembly but also the right to strike or to choose sexual partners. But while education for all is protected by the constitution, university students are charged relatively expensive fees and many lower schools are short-staffed. The SA Defense Forces now include former combatants from the old army and the military cadres from the ANC and liberation organizations. Levels of political violence have dropped dramatically, although they remain high in the Natal midlands as cadre from the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party continue to kill each other. In December 1997, the ANC offered to merge with the IFP (the largest black pa
