It won’t be politics as usual when ANC is done voting
Little charisma, no great speeches — but the race for the top job has attracted unprecedented interest
It’s amazing how much public interest is being generated by the race to lead the ANC.
It’s surprising, since neither of the leading contenders, Cyril Ramaphosa or Nkosazana DlaminiZuma, are particularly charismatic, nor have they made memorable speeches in their campaign.
True, Ramaphosa condemned corruption and state capture, but given what we have learnt about Eskom and from Jacques Pauw’s disclosures, this is small change in the present political milieu.
Nothing that either candidate has said indicates a determination to press for serious measures to address our numerous problems.
Of course they have been limited by the fact that state power will remain in the hands of President Jacob Zuma and his cronies. The cabinet will remain the same. Indeed, the prospects of change are constrained by the continued power of Zuma and this will only change if and when he is removed from office and replaced.
The election of either of the two contenders for leadership of the ANC will also be constrained by virtue of the manoeuvring for senior places by the other aspiring candidates, who represent differing constituencies and interests. This will lead to a top six elected ANC officials of considerable diversity and not a collective chosen by Ramaphosa or Dlamini-Zuma.
So why is there so much interest in the leadership contest? Perhaps because it is the first indication that Zuma’s rule is nearing its end. Perhaps because the structures of the ANC itself have taken it so seriously.
Never before have there been so many contentious conferences, or so many referrals to the courts — extraordinary developments since it was not so long ago that members of the ANC complained of undue interference by judges who were not elected. Paradoxically, the public is now much better informed about how the ANC really works.
It is notable that all the excitement is about personalities, not policy. If policy issues were being contested, the ANC would appreciate all the attention. Instead there is contestation for office in the crudest form and, in extreme cases, leading to murder.
It might seem that the ANC is a casualty of this contest, since it emerges deeply divided, not on policy but on personalities and their followers.
Traditions lost purchase
The traditions so carefully nurtured by OR Tambo, Nelson Mandela and others have lost their purchase and only lip service and rhetoric remain. When one encounters some of the new recruits who have been brought in merely to swell provincial numbers in provinces like KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, their ignorance of ANC history and values is evident.
The outcome of the conference may disappoint and not promise a better future. Indeed, as some leaders are warning, the ANC’s future as a ruling party may be in danger in 2019 not because other parties are more attractive, but because of abstention by large numbers of ANC supporters.
At the recent conference of ANC stalwarts and veterans, Njabulo Ndebele said the ANC was behaving like a family, inward looking and obsessed with its own affairs. The activities leading up to the national elective conference confirm this view.
An alternative model
The ANC is ridden with internecine warfare to the exclusion of public matters. The stalwarts demonstrated an alternative model by inviting the Chamber of Mines, Business Leadership South Africa, AgriSA and religious bodies to demonstrate that their concern was about public not private interests and concerns.
One wonders whether all this will lead to a new kind of politics in South Africa, one less focused on strong parties that are self-serving and concerned with getting into power above all else, and more on external movements which reflect people’s real needs.
There is undoubtedly a degree of fatigue in the public arena with strutting politicians, inflated egos of unimpressive individuals, and the whole charade of party politicians vying for places in parliament. I am by no means denigrating parliamentary democracy, which is a vital cog in democracy, merely criticising the empty pretences which are so pronounced.
The ANC should learn from some developments internationally where conventional politicians and parties are being spurned.
US President Donald Trump came to power without the support of a political party establishment; in the UK large numbers of voters abandoned the Tories and Labour and voted for Brexit; Emmanuel Macron came to power in France without traditional party support. In many West European countries no single party is able to form a government, resulting in a patchwork of unstable coalitions.
In South Africa we see a sign of the rejection of political parties in the student movement.
It seems that the conventional parties do not have a presence on campuses and are therefore unable to give leadership. Instead the students form groups with no obvious leaders. These groups act on their own initiative, often with undesirable outcomes, and are resistant to conventional political parties.
Leaders elected by the ANC will face a membership and a public that have been persuaded that the top structures of the ANC have been hijacked and usurped for corrupt ends.
Tales of wrongdoing
Disenchantment with government is general and scepticism is universal. The Guptas and all those who have been drawn into their net are seen as being responsible for the serious deterioration of our economy and indeed public life.
We are sickened by the daily tales of wrongdoing by public servants and by private sector agencies, which have always claimed to be paragons of integrity.
Ultimately in politics, public sentiment about the integrity and commitment to public service by leaders determines who people support. If this sentiment falters, they will find alternative ways of asserting their interests, including outside of formal politics .
Professor Turok is a former ANC MP and is now director of the Institute for African Alternatives