NEW SNOUTS, OLD TROUGH
Coalitions seem to be about how the collaborators will divide up the carcass
Just over a month ago political economist and businessman Moeletsi Mbeki delivered a lecture at the University of Johannesburg. It was a dissection of national liberation movements, and the ANC in particular, in postcolonial and post-liberation societies. It was not pretty.
Mbeki argued that instead of fighting to fundamentally transform their countries for the betterment of all, national liberation parties such as the ANC soon showed that they merely wanted power and lifestyles similar to those of their former white oppressors.
Mbeki backed up his argument with references to key policies — the meteoric increase in social grant beneficiaries, for example — to show how the movements perpetuate their hold on power and access to their former oppressors’ lifestyles.
The last slide of his presentation bore five simple words that encapsulate the ethos of these organisations: “It’s our turn to eat.”
That’s also the title of a book by journalist Michela Wrong about Kenyan whistleblower and anti-corruption fighter John Githongo. Given a state post as an anti-corruption fighter in the post-Daniel Arap Moi era,
Githongo soon discovered that the country’s new leaders were using the techniques of their predecessors to also loot the public purse. It was their turn to eat.
This week we celebrate 30 years of South Africa’s triumph over the evil apartheid system.
We do so with an election just a month away. We enter this month of electioneering fully aware that despite some progress, we have largely failed to fulfil the extraordinary promise of 1994. Indeed, if we are honest with ourselves, our predicament is largely due to the way we entered the funnel of failure called “it’s our turn to eat”. Without excusing the corruption that took place before or after, South Africa between 2008 and 2018 was the height of “it’s our turn to eat”.
To a large extent, the electioneering that is under way right now needs to be looked at through this lens. What do these politicians want?
I would venture that parties such as the EFF have nothing to offer beyond “it’s our turn to eat”. There are no innovative ideas about stimulating industry, attracting investment, heightening efficiency, educating young people for the challenges at hand, or creating jobs. Most of what we hear, if you scratch the surface, are plans to remove lazy incumbents from their chairs and replace them with the winners’ lazy people.
Even the talk about coalitions seems to be about just how the collaborators can divide up the carcass. If you look at the EFF-ANC tie-up in Ekurhuleni, you can see clearly what’s going on. The EFF has got the powerful positions with proper budgets, such as finance and roads. The ANC gets the mayoralty and the chains of the position. It’s now the EFF’s time to eat in
Ekurhuleni. In Moeletsi Mbeki’s terms, the ANC merely removed the whites so it could eat. Now the EFF has arrived and is doing the same.
EFF leader Julius Malema says he has no problem with Jacob Zuma and that Zuma told him of his intention to desert the ANC last December. That’s sweet, particularly given that Malema once called Zuma a “dictator” and a “criminal”. The two are now cosying up and have plans, according to Malema.
“We agreed to meet after the elections and see how the two organisations [EFF and MK Party] can carry each other forward because the unity of purpose is very important,” he said.
The EFF claims to be a party of clean government that wants to upend our society and install a socialist republic. Nothing wrong with that, but why would you want to do this with a man responsible for handing your country to a parasitic, corrupt family?
It makes sense when you realise that Zuma wants nothing but a return to his nine wasted years where he could install his cronies in sweet positions in the government and be able to stop the state from prosecuting him for his alleged arms deal corruption. He is looking for a partner, and the EFF is that partner.
Happy Freedom Day.