Abstract
Over the last decade protest has become an enduring feature of the post-apartheid political
landscape. Despite this wave of protest the African National Congress (ANC) has retained its
dominant status, securing 62% of the vote in the last national elections held in May 2014. The
endurance of the ANC’s electoral support in spite of the high levels of protest has led leading
political commentator Susan Booysen to conclude that protests in South Africa form part of a
‘dual repertoire’ of political contestation. She argues that protests are used to signal
grievances to the ANC between elections but that, ultimately, people remain loyal to the party
of liberation. This article interrogates Booysen’s claim through advancing an analysis of
voting district and ward level data in protest hotspots. The article argues that there are
weaknesses in the methodological base of Booysen’s thesis. By analysing the support for the
ANC amongst the estimated eligible voting age population, this article suggests a different
relationship between voting and protesting in post-apartheid South Africa.