Malema is an opportunistic and demagogic leader
AT THE EFF’S fourth anniversary celebration a few weeks ago, its leader Julius Malema made disparaging comments about Indian people in South Africa.
There have many justifiable responses condemning his vitriolic utterings. The rationale of this rejoinder though is neither to deal with the merits or demerits of those retorts nor to add to those voices of protest by Indian community leaders, but to deal substantively with the question of opportunistic and demagogic leadership which Malema epitomises.
In all corners of South Africa one can find racists. This certainly does not mean that all South Africans are racists and opportunists.
Furthermore, it is important to assert that racial profiling or stereotyping is the worst form of racism. The recent xenophobic attacks on foreigners in our country and the fascist killings of millions of innocent men, women and children in Nazi Germany bear testimony to this sad indictment.
We also need to be reminded that the constitution makes it beholden on all who live in this beautiful country to fastidiously work towards a socially just, non-racial and non-sexist society.
South Africa is in a state of fluidity with major disruptions and contestations changing the political, social and economic landscape.
As a result, change is palpable and ubiquitous, especially as the nation strives to fulfil its human needs to accomplish a propitious transformation in a society that has been severely fractured by an apartheid legacy.
Accordingly, one cannot overemphasise the roles of leadership and inclusive group cohesiveness to effect change.
The direction of change will therefore depend on the manner in which human and physical resources are mobilised by responsible leadership and the collective attitude of the citizenry.
Political leadership is therefore critical to the future trajectory of South Africa.
The definition of leadership is as diverse as the myriad books and articles written on the construct.
No matter the viewpoint from which the definition is viewed, a leader is one who exerts unusual influence and considerable power and who makes things happen that would not happen otherwise. He or she would work in the best interest of the nation and harbour malice towards none. In the overall development of a country, leadership is an opportunity to serve and not a trumpet call to self-importance.
If leadership is about nation-building and showing animosity towards none, then I am perplexed about how demagogic opportunists such as Adolf Hitler of Germany, Donald Trump and Senator Joseph McCarthy of the US, Viktor Yushchenko of the Ukraine, Benito Mussolini of Italy and South Africa’s own Malema became leaders either of their respective political parties or their respective countries.
To understand the rise of such opportunistic leaders, it is necessary to comprehend the meaning of demagogic leadership.
The word “demagogue” was first coined from Greek and means “a popular leader or a leader of a mob, people or populace” or a “rabble-rouser”.
Research further suggests that a demagogic leader gains popularity by exploiting prejudice and ignorance among ordinary people, stirring up the passion of the masses and preventing rational debate.
In essence, such opportunistic political leaders advocate immediate, forceful action to address a national crisis and exploit weaknesses in democratic dispensations to drum up support, particularly by making false claims and promises against adversaries and minorities.
They appeal to the emotions of the poor and uninformed, pursuing power, telling lies to stir up hysteria, exploiting crises to intensify popular support for their calls to immediate action and increased authority, and accusing moderate opponents of weakness or disloyalty to the nation. Demagogic leaders can and generally do exploit a country that is divided by breaking established democratic institutions such as the rule of law.
Throughout history, demagogues pander to passion, prejudice, bigotry, and ignorance, rather than reason. They fashion themselves as men or women of the common people opposed to the elite and their politics depends on a visceral connection with the people. They manipulate this connection and the raging popularity it affords for their own benefit and ambition, and threaten to or do break established rules of conduct, institutions and even the law.
The most fundamental demagogic technique is “scapegoating”, that is blaming the in-group’s troubles on an out-group, usually of a different ethnicity, religion, or social class. For example, McCarthy claimed that all the US’ problems resulted from “communist subversion”. Hitler blamed Jews for Germany’s defeat in World War I as well as the economic troubles that came afterwards. This was central to his appeal and many people declared that the only reason they liked Hitler was because he was against the Jews. Fixing blame on the Jews gave Hitler a way to intensify nationalism and unity.
Bringing this narrative closer to home, Malema forcefully caught the public’s eye by making racist rants about the minority Indian community in South Africa, accusing them of being “worse than the Afrikaners”.
That was not the first time he made such racist remarks. Crude racist comments are typical of Malema as a demagogic leader, suggesting that he is presenting such “facts” in the interest of the majority indigent black people.
Despite the fact that one of the pillars of our constitution prescribes non-racialism, racism unfortunately remains part of the fabric of South African society. This, moreover, does not detract from the allegations that individualistic racist attitudes towards blacks in the Indian community do exist.
While racism is immoral, stereotyping a community is unjust. As mentioned previously though, racism is endemic in all societies, and it cannot be eradicated until individuals within those communities confront the demon of racism head on.
At the same time, as a proud community with a rich struggle and philanthropic history, the Indian community should not have to constantly defend their bona fides in South African society at large, especially not to the opportunistic and demagogic leaders of the Malema ilk.
As Ban Ki-moon, the former UN secretary general, believes: “Defeating racism, tribalism, intolerance and all forms of discrimination will liberate us all, victim and perpetrator alike.”
We owe this to the future of South Africa, especially to prevent the types of negative repercussions of racist chants experienced locally, regionally and globally.
More importantly, there is an elephant in the room and the demagogic leadership forces are too preoccupied with the part of the truth in front of them to see the reality of the whole.
In the process, many matters of more urgent priority to the poor are being neglected.
After more than two decades of democracy the nation is still contending with issues of poverty, inequality, homelessness, unemployment and hunger. We continue to be a country of two worlds. On the one hand, we have the world of the few who live in posh suburbs with access to superior education, health care and other services. On the other we have the majority who live in informal settlements and are poverty-stricken and denied basic services.
This is a crisis of the lack of transformative political leadership. It is responsible for South Africa’s political malaise and its social and structural injustices.
Strengthening political leadership is trepidatious, given the deeply engraved racist status quo that appeals to demagogic leaders such as Malema.
The deficit and crisis of ethical political leadership pose enormous challenges to South Africa.
Demagogic and opportunistic leadership manifested by persistent human rights violations, bad governance, dysfunctional institutions, patronage, manipulation of ethnic differences, corruption and personalisation of power hinder the prevalence of authentic development and social justice.
They feed on the state, prey on the weak, use national resources for self-aggrandisement, and deprive citizens of the truth and their constitutional rights.
Strengthening authentic leadership is fundamental to the crisis, necessitating a moral imagination, creativity and networking of actors at all levels within our country.
Consequently, the response to poverty and inequality is obvious and urgent. No political democracy can survive and flourish if the mass of the people remain in poverty, without land, without tangible prospects for a better life.
The situation assists only in the creation of opportunists and demagogic leadership.
South Africa is in dire need of visionary leadership. All it takes is a direction and a vision rather than an opportunistic path of leaping from one open door to another in the quest to obfuscate the truth.
All one has to do is to connect the dots in Malema’s short impetuous political and entrepreneurial history and the truth will reveal itself.
You will notice that he constantly needs to project his leadership deficits by scapegoating vulnerable minorities. Remember this when you cast your vote.
Finally, I would like to quote a Latin proverb which aptly summarises Malema’s leadership eccentrics: “It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself.”
Soni is an academic and researcher and writes in his personal capacity