IEJ | 30 June 2025
Seventy years after the Freedom Charter first declared that “the people shall share in the country’s wealth,” South Africa finds itself grappling with persistent inequality, economic stagnation, and a political landscape redefined by coalition governance. One year into the Government of National Unity (GNU), we’re asking: does this new political configuration open space for real economic transformation, or simply entrench the status quo?
To unpack these questions, the IEJ and the highly popular SMWX platform have co-hosted the fourth edition of the Economic Justice Matters discussion series, titled: Contestation and Possibility: Economic Policy in the GNU. Moderated by Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh and featuring Febe Potgieter (ANC Head of Policy), Dr Sithembile Mbete (PARI), and Neil Coleman (IEJ), the discussion explores the tensions, contradictions, and potential openings shaping economic decision-making under the GNU.
This is not a theoretical debate. As Neil has written, the GNU poses an existential question for progressive forces: how do we contest regressive economic policy while engaging strategically with a shifting political reality?
Some expected the GNU to shift the ANC rightward, particularly on macroeconomic policy. But over the past year, we’ve seen a somewhat surprising posture emerge from the ruling party, one that has pushed back on austerity, supported measures like basic income and NHI, and opened up space for debate on Treasury orthodoxy. Whether this signals real change or rhetorical repositioning remains unclear, but it does suggest that contestation within government is alive, and perhaps growing.
The discussion takes place against the backdrop of deepening social crisis, widespread political alienation, and the ANC’s loss of its majority. This volatile mix has created both dangers and opportunities. On one hand, there is a vacuum in political representation and an emboldening of reactionary forces. On the other hand, the political pressure on the ANC to deliver, combined with new configurations of power in Parliament, could shift policy in more progressive directions.
But this shift won’t happen on its own. As Neil points out, the left faces a choice: retreat into oppositionism and risk irrelevance, or navigate a difficult balance of mobilisation and engagement to push for structural change. The stakes are high. Economic policy decisions made in the coming months will either stabilise society and unlock inclusive growth or deepen the country’s multiple crises.
The Economic Justice Matters series aims to provide a space for precisely this kind of reflection: grounded in context, open to complexity, and focused on the strategic questions that matter. As South Africa enters a new political era, it’s time to ask hard questions about where we’re headed and how we make progress towards a just economy.
Watch and comment on the full discussion on SMWX’s YouTube Channel, launched today, 30 June 2025.
Read Neil Coleman’s article The ANC, the GNU, and Economic Transformation.
Read the concept note that informed and framed the discussion.