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The main aim of this paper was to analyse South Africa’s transition from one-party dominance to a multi-party coalition government, with specific reference to the 2024 general elections in South Africa. Through the use of secondary data collection, the paper critically analysed the nexus between social discontent and voting behaviour in South Africa’s 2024 general elections. Using rational choice theory, the paper argued that voting behaviour in the 2024 elections was influenced by people’s choice to vote for a political party that promised to improve their welfare by addressing existing socio-economic challenges. The study found that the African National Congress (ANC), which has been a single dominant party in national government for 30 years, has failed to address pressing challenges that cause social discontent such as poor service delivery, poverty, unemployment, inequality, corruption, and the energy crisis. As a result, the party fell below the threshold to govern on its own, leading to the formation of a multi-party coalition government with former opposition parties named the Government of National Unity (GNU). The paper concluded that parties that form multi-party coalition government should prioritise people’s interests such as mitigating existing social discontents, because failure to do so shall influence voting behaviour in the upcoming election cycles, which might affect their electoral support as was the case with the ANC’s decline of support post-2024 general elections. This study anticipates making a valuable contribution to the existing body of knowledge by offering practical insights into the nexus between social discontent and voting behaviour in South Africa’s elections. In addition, the study provides recommendations on how the newly formed government of national unity can mitigate the existing social discount among electorates.

Xenophobic attacks have long been prevalent in post-independence Africa, as shown by the expulsion of Ugandans of Asian origin from Uganda in 1972. Post-apartheid South Africa has experienced continuous xenophobic attacks on Africans since 2008. In both cases the attacks were not framed as xenophobic by the state. Instead, they were framed within a socio-economic context, where the targeted groups were criminalized and securitised by the general population. The goal of this qualitative study is to analyse the drivers and social justice goals of xenophobia in urban spaces. This is done by looking into case studies of the 1972 Ugandan-Asian expulsion in Uganda, and the xenophobic attacks on foreigners in South Africa (2008–2019). The case studies provide key debates surrounding the drivers and social justice goals of xenophobic attacks in both Uganda and South Africa. The paper thus examines the relative deprivation in both countries, which assists in explaining the onset of the xenophobic attacks. Findings are that although the Ugandan-Asian debacle and xenophobic attacks in South Africa were triggered by drivers such as income inequality, inter-group hatred, racism, poverty, unemployment and competition for resources, the quest for social justice emanating from historical socio-economic grievances was deeply entrenched in both cases. Yet the paper further argues that rather than addressing social injustice, xenophobia perpetuates it by creating new victims and shielding the governments from the spotlight on their failings especially in addressing poverty, inequality, and overall access to economic opportunities to mention but a few. The paper recommends a need for political will to tackle xenophobia and the socio-economic challenges and a need for community dialogue and inter-community linkages crucial when dealing with grievances.

Post-apartheid South Africa is characterized by the proliferation of public protests, which occur in various contexts. These include urban riots that are typically carried out by individuals who live in residential areas who are relatively politically, socially, and economically marginalized. In this perspective, the study seeks to navigate the nexus between urban riots and criminal activities in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa. This will be performed by looking at the recent urban violence that erupted in Johannesburg and Durban cities of South Africa following the arrest of the former president of South Africa Jacob Zuma on 7 July for contempt of court. As a result of the incarceration of Zuma, his supporters took to the streets to demand for his release, ending in protests which quickly evolved into widespread lootings, vandalism, and an outbreak of violence that denoted elements of criminality. The two provinces, Gauteng (the country's economic hub) and KwaZulu-Natal (on the east coast), bore the brunt of this violence. What began as a call for the release of Jacob Zuma transpired into something that was heavily coordinated, controlled and, to a larger extent, dangerous, and perhaps the worst post-apartheid urban riot. However, behind these riots, there are seeds of discontents that triggered these violent riots and these include: the frustrations of hungry and cold people whose prospects were already constrained by the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, rising inequality between rich and poor, unemployment, intra-party tensions, and ANC-factionalism, including stereotypical Zulu nationalism and racial tensions in South Africa. On the other hand, the riots that occurred in both KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were accompanied by criminality such as looting, torching, and burning of private and public properties and, to a larger degree, murder of civilians. Findings are that the urban riots in both Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces have resulted in human (in)securities such as exacerbation of poverty, food and fuel shortages, effects on the health sector (amid the COVID-19 crisis), loss of lives, and increase in unemployment. Methodologically, the study relies on a mixed method of research and content analysis.