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Is Election 2014 a Watershed Event for South Africa? A Panel Discussion Hosted by the Frontline Club in London

27 Feb 2014

"The better the ANC does in this election, the worse its future," argues Jonny Steinberg in this comprehensive discussion on South African politics that was hosted by the Frontline Club in London last night. Panelists, all South Africans living abroad, weighed in on the forthcoming elections with views on the range of political parties.

While nobody is expecting the ANC to relinquish its position as ruling party in the forthcoming election, panelists all agreed that this election is a watershed event because it represents the beginning of the end for one-party dominance in South African politics. Of course, politics in South African can hardly be divorced from economics and the panel also engages in an interesting conversation about jobs, foreign direct investment, nationalisation and corporate citizenship.

The Panel

John Battersby: Country manager of Brand South Africa in the UK. Previously he was editor-in-chief of the Sunday Independent in Johannesburg, and served as The New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor's southern Africa correspondent.

Sophie Masipa: Director of communications at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, established in 2006 with a focus on the critical importance of leadership and governance in Africa.

Martin Plaut: Senior research fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, former BBC Africa editor and author of a number of books including Who Rules South Africa?

Jonny Steinberg: South African writer and lecturer in African Studies at Oxford University. His work explores South African people and institutions in the wake of the transition to democracy.

© Frontline Club

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