Susan Booysen | Political Analyst

Professor Susan Booysen

Emeritus Professor | Political Analyst | Research Consultant | Author

Professor Susan Booysen is Emeritus Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, a research consultant and an established analyst of South African politics.

Specialising in party politics, elections, coalition politics and governance, her research and commentary span four eventful decades of South African political history.

She is the author of several books on the African National Congress and a leading contributor to research on coalition politics and governance in South Africa.

Featured Research: Coalition Politics in South Africa

MISTRA Coalitions Barometer II (2023–2025)

Professor Susan Booysen served as editor, analyst and lead author of the MISTRA Coalitions Barometer II, a comprehensive research volume examining coalition politics and governance in South Africa during a period of significant political change.

Published in 2025 by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA), the report builds on earlier research into South Africa's evolving coalition landscape.

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MISTRA Coalitions Barometer I (2021–2023)

The first volume in the series examines South Africa's emerging coalition politics and governance challenges, providing a foundation for understanding subsequent developments.

Professor Booysen served as editor, analyst and lead author.

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Marriages of Inconvenience: The Politics of Coalitions in South Africa (2021)

Edited by Professor Susan Booysen, this MISTRA publication explores the complexities of coalition politics in South Africa, including political alliances, governance and the challenges of multiparty cooperation.

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Precarious Power – Compliance and discontent under Ramaphosa’s ANC

by admin | March 2, 2021 | ANC, Media, Publications | 0 Comments

Precarious Power is the third delivery in Booysen’s sequential, incisive trilogy that traces and dissects the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa as it moves from times of glory and celebrated liberation struggle, to mutually destructive, transient...

Opinion: Are ANC delegates listening to rumblings beyond conference walls?

by Susan | December 15, 2017 | ANC, Media, Opinions | 0 Comments

Written for www.enca.com - 15 December 2017 http://www.enca.com/opinion/are-anc-delegates-listening-to-rumblings-beyond-conference-walls Moving into its 54th national elective conference the African National Congress (ANC)is torn between delegate preferences that are...

The ANC leadership race will go down to the wire: here’s why

by Susan | December 11, 2017 | ANC, Media, Opinions | 0 Comments

Originally posted in THE CONVERSATION on 6 December 2017 The suspense is tangible as the African National Congress (ANC) – South Africa’s former liberation movement that’s turned into a tired governing party – approaches its fiercely contested 2017 elective...

The ANC’S Battle of Mangaung (eBook)

by admin | June 7, 2016 | ANC, Publications | 0 Comments

Much of the country’s political future is determined by the ANC’s internal elections. Here political analyst Susan Booysen gives an incisive breakdown of the cutthroat elections of Polokwane in 2007 and Mangaung in 2012, which will set a course for the party and its...

Dominance and Decline – The ANC in the Time of Zuma

by admin | January 9, 2016 | Publications | 0 Comments

"There is no shortage of books about the modern ANC. However this one provides evidence-based answers to two key questions that are frequently asked but seldom answered persuasively. The questions are what is the current basis of the ANC’s support and how likely is...