By Reneva Fourie
BRITAIN and South Africa have a deep historical connection. While our former colonisers covertly supported the apartheid regime, the British people were vocal in their support for the anti-apartheid Struggle.
The South African Struggle is central to the left and liberal society in Britain, especially among the older members of the Labour Party. Hence, despite policy disagreements, the relationship between Britain under the new Labour government and South Africa is expected to be strong.
Both countries remain burdened by ongoing challenges, including poverty, unemployment, inequality, crime, and climate change. These challenges have influenced recent election results. In Britain, the Labour Party returned to power after 14 years, winning 63% of parliamentary seats despite gaining only 34% of the votes due to the “first past the post” system.
In South Africa, where we use a proportional representation (PR) system, the ANC won 40% of the votes and a comparable percentage of parliamentary seats, leading it to form a Government of National Unity (GNU). Now that elections in both countries have been concluded, it is prudent to analyse how the Labour Party and the ANC, who occupy the dominant seats in their governments, intend to tackle these challenges.
The Labour Party’s programmes focus on creating quality jobs and fostering inclusive growth by preventing job losses in key industries, expanding the public service, and enhancing revenue collection. They also aim to provide reliable, affordable and job-creating green energy, reduce crime, promote equal access to opportunities and improve the efficiency of the National Health Service (NHS).
The ANC’s priorities, integrated into the GNU’s statement of intent, are similar. They include job creation, building industries and infrastructure, delivering quality and affordable basic services, reducing the cost of living, strengthening the social security network, implementing the National Health Insurance, addressing crime, defending human rights, and working towards a better Africa and world.
During a visit to Britain, I spoke to Meic Birtwistle, a journalist, historian, Labour Party member, and veteran anti-apartheid activist. Despite our historical ties, our foreign policy positions deviate. While South Africa actively pursued interventions for a ceasefire concerning the Palestinian genocide, Britain continues to export arms to Israel.
Between 2008 and 2023, Britain licensed arms worth over £574 million (R13 billion) to Israel. Additionally, a motion in the UK parliament calling for an immediate ceasefire was defeated by 294 to 125 votes in November 2023. Only 56 Labour MPs supported the motion – 141 abstained, as did 81 other MPs.
Birtwistle clarified the disjuncture between the official stance and that of the people, saying, “A significant number of people are very angry about the situation in Gaza.
“Although there was strong opposition to the apartheid regime, it doesn’t compare with the current scale of opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza. We’ve had numerous mass-based activities and demonstrations all over Britain.”
The popular demonstrations and rallies are impactful. In February, Britain’s parliament reversed the previous defeat of a motion calling for a ceasefire. Therefore, Birtwistle says, “I think that we will see the new British government moving on this quite considerably and that there will be major changes.
“Keir Starmer rang both Abbas and Netanyahu on Sunday and assured the Palestinians that there will be swift moves to recognise a Palestinian state and told Netanyahu that there needs to be a ceasefire.”
Birtwistle, however, was confident that the stance on the Ukrainian-Russian conflict would remain unchanged. He said, “The position is strongly in favour of Ukraine. They support the right of the Ukrainians to engage in a defensive war.
”But how this war ends is another question. How much military support do you give to Ukraine before it causes a conflagration?“
The ANC is also concerned about the consequences of escalated conflict, hence the previous administration’s and President Ramaphosa’s efforts to broker peace.
Birtwistle’s primary concern, however, is the rise of the Right. He says, “This is the first time Reform, a populist, right-wing party, has won power in the ballot box at that level of the British Parliament. The experience has been that these populist parties are wreckers. They don’t take the system seriously.”
According to Birtwistle, the right wing’s growth in popularity can be attributed to the following: “We’ve had austerity for fourteen years, which contributed to a major economic crisis. We’ve had problems with the cost of electricity and heating. So, people have become impoverished.
“At the same time, the very richest elements in society, are just getting richer. This has caused people to be worried about immigration. They fear incomers and are susceptible to simplistic solutions that populist right-wing parties offer.”
In addition to the very negative consequences of austerity measures, Birtwistle also warns about the dangers of climate change. “Climate change also affects immigration. Things are just going to get worse. Consequently, people will be moving around more.
“All kinds of tensions will develop because of climate change. We need to look at our policies on how we can slow down and stop climate change. We must also look at how we can support the Third World,” he says.
According to Birtwistle, broad left fronts are one of the means to mitigate the rise of right-wing populism. Referencing the narrow French electoral victory of the New Popular Front (NFP), a broad left-wing alliance of socialists, communists and Greens, Birtwistle says that similar explorations are under way in Britain.
Despite the voting trend in South Africa shifting towards the right, some within the GNU continue to advocate for further structural adjustments and austerity measures. Britain’s experiences highlight the risks associated with such an approach.
Fortunately, the emergence of far-right movements has spurred the left into action, serving as a rallying point for mobilisation towards more tangible solutions to the challenges facing the working class. We must now follow suit and translate the long-discussed concept of a broad left front into a tangible reality.
* Dr Reneva Fourie is a policy analyst specialising in governance, development and security.
** This article expresses the views of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media