An analysis of the National Democratic Revolution's (NDR) contribution to relative deprivation in South Africa

Abstract

The ideology of the National Democratic Revolution has been fundamental in South African history, and used by the African National Congress as a tool to abolish the apartheid regime and for governance in democratic South Africa. The National Democratic Revolution is “a process of struggle that seeks to transfer power to the people and transform society into a non-racial, non-sexist, united, democratic one, and changes the manner in which wealth is shared, in order to benefit all the people.” (African National Congress, 2012:70). However, under the direction of the National Democratic Revolution South Africa’s rate of socio-economic development has regressed, with relative deprivation being the greatest socio-economic ill. Relative deprivation in South Africa is a complex societal ill due to its racialized and gendered nature that also contributes to the difficulty in the ANC government resolving or at least alleviating this socio-economic problem. This phenomenon has in turn brought to the fore the fundamental question of whether the National Democratic Revolution is still relevant in democratic South Africa and as a tool for resolving the country’s worsening relative deprivation.