A struggle to wrest democracy from the leash of party bosses

CHICKENS are coming home to roost. That may seem a heartless thing to say in light of the most depressing events we’ve witnessed. But it’s true.

The angry flames licking Pretoria are no accident. Political decisions often have dire consequences.

The violence is a result of the nice little arrangement the elite of all political stripes organised for themselves at Codesa and which continues to make a mockery of our democracy.

Violence should be condemned outright. It has no place in a democracy that gives people the right to demonstrate and to express their grievances without fear or prejudice. But they have no business to do so carrying dangerous weapons, or by engaging in acts of aggression.

But that too can be placed at the door of the ruling party and its friends. For too long they tolerated violence when it suited their purposes. Now the genie is out of the bottle.

We tend to praise the agreement reached at Codesa at every turn, but it’s in fact a bit of a con. We were given the right to vote, but not the right to decide who to vote for. That divine right to anoint candidates resides with party bosses. It’s democracy on a leash. Like the Mafia scheming in smoke-filled rooms. It’s secretive, sinister and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. No wonder it breeds cynicism among ordinary people.

Party bosses use that power to reward their favourites, punish malcontents and of course to manipulate the system. The system is rigged in favour of those in power; and that’s what came to grief in Pretoria this week.

To be in power in South Africa under the current system is to have the best of both worlds. The government operates in something akin to a one-party state but with all the trappings and legitimacy of a democratic state. Despite our democratic pretensions, an unaccountable oligarchy wields untrammelled power. That’s why Gwede Mantashe can control all levers of power, including parliament, from the comfort of his office at Luthuli House. He, not the voters, has the power to hire and fire.

At the core of our system is a patronising attitude, even contempt, for ordinary voters and a belief that they’re incapable of making the “right” decision. One cabinet minister, since put out to pasture, thankfully, once told me “the people” were not yet ready to make their own decisions. They needed “the guidance of the movement”.

Another minister almost choked on her pork chop at the suggestion that there should be open and transparent competition for positions. “Oh no!” she said. “Our people will kill each other.” Well, people died in Pretoria this week.

Paul Mashatile, in an apparent attempt to justify the imposition of candidates, this week regurgitated a laundry list of all the worthies who’ve been foisted on unsuspecting, and often unwilling, constituencies, from Raymond Mhlaba as premier of the Eastern Cape and Ebrahim Rasool in the Western Cape to Ndaweni Mahlangu in Mpumalanga, who was so unprepared for the appointment that he arrived at his press conference in a scruffy, dirty shirt.

Shoving Thoko Didiza down people’s throats is therefore not something new. Danny Jordaan was parachuted in to Port Elizabeth not so long ago. He seems to be doing just fine. But people seem to have reached the end of their tether.

In fact, the ANC’s deployment policy is about moving people around like pieces on a chessboard. Nobody felt the brunt of such a policy more than Mosiuoa Lekota. With tribalism now rearing its ugly head in Pretoria, it’s worth remembering that Lekota was years ago removed as ANC leader in KwaZulu-Natal to make way for Jacob Zuma, and dispatched to the Free State because Zuma was Zulu and he was Sotho. And after he was again removed, this time as Free State premier, he successfully resisted all attempts by the leadership to stop him beating Steve Tshwete for the party chairmanship at the Mafikeng conference.

It was also at Mafikeng where Thabo Mbeki, in an attempt to stop Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, made the fatal mistake of appointing Zuma his deputy. The rest, as they say, is history. It may be hard to believe, but the ANC’s announcement of its mayoral candidates before an election is actually an improvement. In the past, mayors would be appointed by the party after the election.

This time the ANC’s hand was obviously forced by opposition parties, notably the DA, whose mayoral candidates have been out campaigning for some time.

The solution to the mayhem in Pretoria is to embrace pure and unadulterated democracy. Let it flourish, warts and all. Trust the people to make up their own minds. After all, wasn’t it the ANC that said the people shall govern? It would do well to live up to its word.

Meanwhile, Didiza will start campaigning amid the mangled wreckage and debris of Tshwane.

Good luck to her.

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