SA in dark chapter of democracy
THE rising public temperature on the coming parliamentary vote on the fitness of President Jacob Zuma to lead this country tells us we have entered a dark chapter in our democracy.
One never thought that in 23 years some of the finest men and women in our political space would have lost sight of the apartheid land from which they sailed.
Whoever imagined that tensions in the ANC would turn this ugly, threatening the philosophical foundations of this young democracy? To paraphrase poet Mazisi Kunene in his recently republished epic Emperor Shaka the Great, the ANC has become “a beautiful lamp that burns away with the morning”.
One pities citizens for the anxiety they must be feeling when those special few they have entrusted with political power wantonly convey messages seething with blood and venom.
They are told that a president who they voted to power must be dismissed before his term expires. What kind of democractic values are being instilled?
The ANC was wrong to remove Thabo Mbeki before his term was over. And, in a bizarre display of arrogant double-speak, the same voices that pushed Mbeki out, now want Zuma’s head.
These individuals, like us, have the right to express their discontent about a corrupt and inept administration, especially our president. But what is a nuisance is the hyberbole that some opt for in an effort to effect their agenda.
When ANC leader Matthews Phosa tells us the removal of JZ and his cabinet would not be a disaster, one wonders what sangomic powers have been bestowed on him to make such a declaration. Can any political leader assure us that the violence of the 1980s and 1990s can never resurface? If anything, findings of the Moerane Commission into the criminal shenanigans at Glebelands hostel, near umlazi, confirm that we may be on our way towards another chapter of political volatility, especially in KZN. A blend of poverty, unemployment and political intolerance makes the #Phumazumaputch a powder keg that may threaten national stability.
That’s one reason our constitution allows a president to serve a fixed term, after which the next best man or woman for the job is elected via the polls.
As MPS will do in the coming week, it is in line with our democracy to express a vote of no-confidence in a serving president. But I wonder if the political climate is not being intoxicated by going this route, when the political succession processes in the ANC and the country should bring about calm and maturity.
Ngidi is a political commentator and former government spokesperson.