Power-mad ANC loses the plot
In this edited extract from his book ‘What’s Gone Wrong?’ Alex Boraine argues that South Africa could become a failed state if the ruling party’s obsession with power is not checked
THIS is a book I wish I didn’t have to write. But write it I must. It has to do with initial admiration, shared by many, of the ANC and then watching in dismay as the party started slipping towards a failing state.
Several years before the significant and far-reaching changes of 1990, I had met with a number of leading members of the ANC inside and outside South Africa.
I was deeply impressed by the commitment and leadership of the United Democratic Front. It could not declare its support for the ANC openly for fear of prosecution. But it was crystal clear where its allegiance lay. People of the calibre of Cyril Ramaphosa, Jay Naidoo, Murphy Morobe, Trevor Manuel, Azhar Cachalia, Sydney Mufamadi, Eric Molobi, Terror Lekota, Cheryl Carolus, Albertina Sisulu, Popo Molefe, Stone Sizani — the list is endless. They made huge sacrifices and many of them landed in prison.
I also met with many of the leaders of the ANC in exile. They included Oliver Tambo, Thabo Mbeki, Chris Hani, Joe Slovo, Kader Asmal, Barbara Masekela, Albie Sachs, Steve Tshwete and many others. Because of my antipathy towards the National Party, the bearer of apartheid, I saw in the leadership of the ANC internally and externally a different breed of people and welcomed the difference.
I concede I was naive and my expectations of what they could achieve were unrealistic, but I felt they could only be a huge improvement on the apartheid government.
Of course, meeting Nelson Mandela when he was released from prison, and the frequent meetings Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and I had with him during the life of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission were heart-warming and encouraging. Here was someone who stood apart, who could ensure that our journey towards a constitutional democracy could be realised. I voted for the ANC in 1994 and looked forward to a new era in South African politics.
Tragically, the rot soon set in. The notorious arms deal and the wrong-headed and stupid policies towards HIV/Aids, which caused the unnecessary deaths of thousands of sufferers, are some of the symptoms of an ANC that had begun to lose its way. The remoteness of Mbeki, his desire to control, and his determination to show the world that Africans could govern despite the inexperience of the many people deployed into responsible positions meant that the honeymoon was definitely over.
Slowly, I and so many others began to be disillusioned by the insistence on entitlement, the intolerance of opposition, the maladministration at every level of government and the corruption.
The situation has deteriorated even further since President Jacob Zuma assumed office. A comment from an unusual source, the highliving Kenny Kunene, sums up the views of many regarding the president: “It’s true, I like to spend, and I am not an angel, but unlike politicians I’m not spending taxpayers’ money. My real point is that, as a socialite and a businessman, I meet many people, including politicians. When they speak to your face, Mr President, they tell you your imperial clothes are very stylish. When they talk to me, and feel safe from your army of spies, most of them admit that you, the emperor, have no clothes.”
So, what went wrong? It forced me to look at the history of the ANC and in particular the ANC in exile. The oft-declared aim then was the seizure of power by all means. This
What is needed is a new coalition to give South Africa a fresh start and enable it to return to the period that has been termed the Mandela years
should come as no surprise and I have deep sympathy for a party seeking power that had been powerless for so long.
Think of what black South Africans endured through colonialism and racial policies for so long — fear, degradation, exclusion, separation from loved ones, imprisonment, loss of dignity, dehumanisation and even death.
But that was then and this is now. The legacy of apartheid still haunts us, but the ANC has been in power for nearly 20 years and it has failed in its original aim: “Attacking poverty and deprivation must . . . be the first priority of a democratic government.” Instead, its focus is on the total seizure of power.
So what went wrong? There seems to be a pervasive fear of losing power, therefore grab all power. Aung San Suu Kyi, the remarkable Burmese opposition leader who suffered house arrest and harassment for so long, said the following when she received the Nobel peace prize: “It is not power that corrupts, but fear; fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it.” It certainly rings true for the ANC.
Control is almost a fetish. It is not sufficient to control members of parliament: even mayors have to have their sanction; provincial premiers are elected by Luthuli House; all those who hold any office at all are under tight supervision. The executive of the state has been replaced by the top six ANC leaders, Zuma, Ramaphosa, Baleka Mbete, Gwede Mantashe, Jessie Duarte and Zweli Mkhize. Nothing happens without rigid control and deployment to ensure that loyal cadres are in place.
A further question is whether the criminality and corruption in exile foreshadowed the criminality and corruption that is rife among ANC leaders and seems endemic in every government institution.
If all of this could be seen as a passing phase, mistakes made by a new government, it would be disturbing but understandable. But if it is symptomatic of the ANC over the past 50 years, then it engenders a deep sense of uneasiness, an ominous suggestion that a failing state could become a failed state if not checked.
Of course, there are many good people in the party. Many of these faithful supporters of the ANC must be deeply embarrassed and even ashamed by the failure of the senior leadership. But because the culture of power seems to be so ingrained, genuine and extensive reform is simply out of the question.
What is needed is a new coalition that will give South Africa a fresh start and enable it to return to the period that has been termed the Mandela years.
It is the ANC’s obsession with power that engenders a culture of suspicion, distrust and extreme intolerance. This was evident in the period of exile and accounts today for the party’s disenchantment with the Constitutional Court and much of the media, and its contempt for parliament. In exile, it could be argued that the ANC had good cause to be paranoid and lacking in transparency. After all, the movement seemed to be riddled with state security agents.
But nearly 20 years later, the same phobias exist — and the ANC is no longer an exile movement, but the government of South Africa. It is more concerned with the state of the party than with good governance for all South Africans.
This means that even someone like Ramaphosa would not be able to turn things around should he become president. He would certainly be a vast improvement on Zuma and a more acceptable face of the ANC. He would push strenuously for the implementation of the National Development Plan. But the spirit of party loyalty at all costs, the lust for unbridled power and the suspicions in the party are so deeply entrenched that he would be tilting at windmills.
I admire Ramaphosa and others like Manuel and Ahmed Kathrada, but they just don’t seem to be part of the current ANC. They speak a different language.
The best scenario would be for a core of leaders from inside the ANC and outside it to focus on a new coalition. Some will come from the ANC, possibly some from the labour movement, some from faith-based organisations, some from opposition parties and some from civil society. The coalition we seek needs new blood and people who have been on the periphery of politics.
The coalition will not come into meaningful power and significance tomorrow, or even next year. But if there is sufficient will and concern, it will happen.
‘What’s Gone Wrong?’ is published by Jonathan Ball, R195