South Africa Needs a “Second Republic”

Why this is here: Less than a quarter of South Africa’s wealth is owned by Africans, while a white minority of roughly 7% controls about 80% of it—a disparity rooted in historical conquest and dispossession.

Muzi Sikhakhane SC argues South Africa requires fundamental systemic change beyond its current constitutional framework. He contends that three decades after apartheid, the country remains trapped by unresolved issues of land dispossession, inequality, and economic exclusion. Sikhakhane links the Phala Phala scandal and potential presidential removal to an opportunity for a revolutionary reset focused on total liberation and decoloniality.

He asserts the current Constitution protects colonial power structures, noting that roughly 80% of the country’s wealth is held by a white minority of about 7%, while Africans own less than a quarter. Sikhakhane criticizes the focus on corruption and incompetence as obscuring deeper, historical causes rooted in imperialism and racial capitalism.

He proposes disbanding the current executive, legislature, and judiciary to establish interim structures and draft a new, Afrocentric constitution prioritizing land redistribution, healthcare, and economic justice. While advocating for radical transformation, Sikhakhane acknowledges the need for a clear ideological framework to guide this revolution and prevent further betrayal of the black majority.