All-powerful political parties largely dominate the electoral democracies of sub-Saharan Africa. Over time, they tend to lose their first-mover legitimacy. South Africa’s African National Congress (anc) is a telling case of that phenomenon. No longer is it the unblemished political movement loyal to the ideals of Nelson Mandela. In-fighting about the spoils of office; rampant corruption infecting all levels of the party, including a former president on trial in 2021; and bitter battles between factions of lesser and greater integrity all undercut the party’s appeal to electors. For this reason, Ndletyana’s exemplary study of the anc in the important coastal city of Port Elizabeth (now part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality) contributes so much to our understanding of how ruling political parties behave at the local level–in this case, over a twenty-nine year period.
There are very few other studies in Africa at such a helpful granular...