Politics makes strange bedfellows
AFTER weeks of speculation and political uncertainty over the marriage between the ANC and the Active United Front (AUF) in Bitou municipality, it’s now official – the union is no more, and the AUF has filed divorce papers to have it rendered null and void.
The AUF has chosen an unlikely bedfellow to be its partner as it enters a new relationship with the Democratic Alliance. I say unlikely because the AUF is a left-leaning party, while the DA is a centre-right political party.
So what are the reasons why a leftleaning party left a centre-left party (ANC) for a centre-right party (DA)? Was the ANC an abusive husband? Or was it simply not living up to the task, unsatisfying as it were?
In its media statement, the AUF confirms this “unlikeliness” by referring to its new relationship with the DA as a “unity of opposites” – interesting choice of words, I’d say. But the statement also explains fully that “our subsequent partnership with the DA is neither based on like (sic) ideology or policies, nor differences in race but rather what the DA is able to offer or, even more accurately, its presented promises of social and economic transformation to the people of Bitou”. So in other words, the AUF is gambling with its king-maker seat as it enters a coalition with the DA.
Again, borrowing from its statement, the AUF says “it might work and it might not work, depending on whether the DA ‘walks the talk’ or not”.
Given the history of DA governance of Bitou municipality, the AUF will have to have measures in place to make sure its new-found “hubby” walks the talk, otherwise it will be dominated.You see, the DA does that, they like to dominate in a relationship. Ask COPE – “she” knows better.
Reasons given by the AUF to leave the ANC are not clear, and the media statement does not assist, unless of course the ANC will put us out of our misery by explaining itself on why it failed to satisfy its ex in that relationship. As members and supporters, the ANC owes us this much, at least.
The AUF says “the divorce with the ANC is not based on hatred but rather opposing moral values and principles”. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that this here lies squarely on poor leadership from the ANC.
Are we surprised? I know I am not, the ANC has been on a downward spiral since Polokwane. Its leadership since 2007 has been characterised by corruption, greed, political patronage and an amoral leadership.
So, as you have probably guessed, the AUF didn’t leave the ANC because it has anti-poor policies – the ANC has all the right policies that a left-leaning political party like the AUF needs. As the AUF explains itself on how it decided to marry the ANC, “our decision was based on premise that we share common ideas, specifically that of pro-poor and working-class agenda”.
Indeed, the AUF and the ANC do share common ideas, but alas, only on paper. So it’s safe to assume that there was a breakdown between the leadership of the AUF and that of the ANC, a case of two bulls in one kraal?
The ANC is facing a leadership crisis as far as the succession debate is concerned, but not only on the national front where choosing a person with integrity is proving to be a difficult task for the position of president, but also and especially at local government level, where careerists have swelled the rank and file and are running the organisation into the ground.
The ANC made an error in judgment in choosing a mayoral candidate who is not inspiring and does not enjoy the confidence of the majority of the Plett citizenry. Most of the ANC councillors themselves did not enjoy significant innings at the polls at last year’s election. This is evident in the low voter turnout the ANC endured in all wards. Seems the ANC failed to learn from the 2011 local elections, when it lost to the DA-COPE coalition.
One thing is for sure, the ANC needs to go back to the drawing board, reflect and devise means to redeem itself, for now it’s not that attractive, nobody wants to date the ANC.
As for the AUF and the DA coalition, well, let’s hope for the best and let history not repeat itself. The saying is actually true, politics do make strange bedfellows and, after all, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies in politics. Wandisile Afrika Sebezo, Plettenberg Bay