© Kamla-Raj 2014 J Soc Sci, 40(2): 185-192 (2014) Historical Reflections on the role of Politicised Collective Identity Groupings against the African National Congress (ANC) Led Government in South Africa: An Un(realistic) Challenge to Democracy? Chitja Twala Department of History, Faculty of the Humanities, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa E-mail: twalacm@ufs.ac.za KEYWORDS Local Government. Poverty. Councillors. Politics. Social Conflicts. Community Protests ABSTRACT The local state is important for understanding the social context within which social conflict and contestation occur. Therefore, the local arena, with its specific historical development and local political scene should be factored into any analysis of social conflict and protest. The study acknowledges that most social movements and community protests have their base in the locality and are often aimed at challenging particular aspects within this geographic space. Furthermore, the study attempts to reflect on whether or not community protests in South Africa are aimed at challenging the newly established democracy or not? In this study, the author contends that in one way or another community protests are politically motivated with the purpose to a certain extent destabilising the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa. In providing a historical reflection on these protests, the study acknowledges the fact that there is a link between community protests and the complaints against the issue of poverty escalation in South Africa. In the socially stratified South African society, the problem of closing the gap between the haves and the have nots is a contested terrain among political parties, politicised collective identity groupings as well as those individuals contesting the ANC’s rule and governance in South Africa. Although there are other reasons for contesting the ANC’s rule and governance, community based or social issues are mainly used as springboards to challenge the ANC in terms of the delivery of services are concerned. The final analysis of the study shows that in the main, the instigators of these community protests are politicised collective groupings with certain sociological and political identities. INTRODUCTION In recent years, community protests, as one of the challenges faced by the ANC’s govern- ment, have been subjected to continuous scru- tiny by both academics and political scientists alike. The study acknowledges the achievement of political liberation by South Africa as a mea- sure of democracy and the process of signifi- cant de-racialisation since 1994. Almost 20 years into the democratic dispensation, South Africa under the ANC government still experience com- munity protests in the majority of the country’s townships. This is sometimes due to deep so- cial inequalities linked with what is believed to be an unequal distribution of resources. The South African Constitution stresses the notion of cooperative governance and identifies the local sphere of governance as one arena crucial for service delivery. More community protests were reported in the first half of 2009 than in any previous year, accounting for almost a quarter of all protests since 1994 with the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces being the hardest hit. Therefore, the study explores the nexus between politically identifiable collective groupings and the perpetuation of community protests in South Africa. Thus, it questions the synergy between the two; either in attempts to destabilise the governance of the ANC or having genuine com- munity concerns which arguably the ruling par- ty is failing to address. Furthermore, the study briefly discusses the role of such groupings and their applied strategies in posing social as well as political challenges to the ANC as the ruling party in South Africa. The study aims to ad- dress the following critical questions: What are the main characteristics of community protests? What are the causes of community protests? Why is there any ideological juxtaposition be- tween service delivery by the ANC and commu- nity protests? In what ways do the history and culture of struggle against apartheid influence community protests in the post-apartheid South Africa? How is the ANC dealing with communi- ty protests?