Statement

82% of South Africans believe in democracy, human rights and the rule of law – let’s keep it that way in the face of unprecedented threats

A recent poll reveals that 82% of South Africans believe in democracy, human rights and the rule of law as universal values, compared with a global average of 81%. The study conducted across 30 countries by the Halifax International Security Forum also found that the majority of South Africans feel we should lead morally globally, though they fear rising global and personal threats.

This is one reason why many South Africans will welcome home ANC veteran and leader Cde Ebrahim Rasool, who was kicked out of the United States for speaking truth to power. As we commemorate Human Rights Day this year, let us acknowledge how the rise of neo-fascism, and let’s call it what it is, is threatening democracies and human rights values across the world.

The disruptive impact of President Trump and his billionaire cronies in the United States is moving at a pace that makes Hitler’s moves before 1939, look slow and clumsy. In the last 48 hours, for example, the Trump regime has closed the American national department of education, and Elon Musk is financially rewarding Republican congressmen who call for the impeachment of judges.

Internationally, the United States continues to imperil the lives of millions of people around the world, including egging on the Prime Minister of Israel, Netanyahu, to continue the genocide of Palestinians.

All this should be of enormous concern to the ANC and South Africans as we celebrate Human Rights Month. In his well-known input to the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection, MISTRA, webinar on 14 March 2025,

Cde Rasool referred to the need to consider balancing values with national interests. Our national interest includes economic growth and job creation, which can be bolstered by trade relations with the United States and other countries. However, our democratic national interest is under threat by right-wing reactionaries, including at home by minority groups such as Afriforum, Solidarity, and now the Cape Independence Advocacy Group.

As the ANC, our strategic position, both politically and diplomatically, should be to oppose, call out and build alliances against the rising reactionary, imperialist moves of Trump and his allies. It is naïve to believe that you can rebuild diplomatic relations with an implacable enemy.

Locally, we must be increasingly vigilant about threats to our democracy. The most serious one is that if we do not accelerate service delivery to our people, they will be vulnerable to the same populism and fake news emanating from social media as the American working class.As we celebrate 70 years of the Freedom Charter, is it not time for a ‘South Africa belongs to all who live in it’ movement—reinforcing and building on the views of the majority of South Africans who continue to believe in democracy and human rights that we fought for?

Ends

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