South Africa’s political economy is commonly understood as a Minerals-Energy (and Financial) Complex, ME(F)C. But the MEC has been misunderstood. Specifying the MEFC as a system of accumulation and drawing upon extensive research and engaging in critical debates, the originator of the term, traces the MEFC from apartheid origins, through the ANC’s failure to adopt coherent and coordinated policies, ultimately leading to degeneration into state capture and beyond. Emphasis is placed upon the interaction between South African specificities and globalisation, neoliberalisation and financialisation, anchoring economic and social reproduction in “five lows” across investment, productivity, wages, employment and social provision.