Personality cults a distraction from vital issues
Malusi Gigaba should have resigned from the cabinet and parliament when the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the high court ruling that he had lied under oath.
The self-righteousness of Gigaba, the ANC and its chief whip is hard to stomach, as his resignation had nothing to do with the “interests of the country and the movement” or “relieving pressure on the president”, but rather his desire to escape further humiliation.
By resigning, Gigaba averted being sacked by President Cyril Ramaphosa and an embarrassing interrogation by parliament’s ethics committee.
Both of these would have thwarted his apparent presidential ambitions.
The Gigaba fiasco is emblematic of a deeper malaise.
Personality cults and personal ambition have triumphed as the dominant political force in a country mired in tragic socio-economic and governance challenges.
This can clearly be seen in the fightback by the faction aligned to former president Jacob Zuma and his allies.
It – more than any other faction in the ANC – is making a lot of noise about public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan.
Insiders say that Gordhan has made many “political mistakes”, but they concede that he is not corrupt, as the EFF would like SA to believe.
This explains the glaring silence from the ANC while one of its own is under attack.
While attacking Gordhan is the outward manifestation of the fightback strategy, it is significantly more far-reaching than this.
He is clearly not the first to be targeted – think Nhlanhla Nene – nor will he be the last.
The prime target is clearly Ramaphosa and at the heart of the onslaught is Zuma, who effectively wrote the populist and personality cult handbook.
Zuma’s allies, who continue to hold significant influence in the ANC, are going all-out to defend him and the deeply entrenched patronage network.
They are attempting to return him or his allies to the country's driving seat.
The EFF has shown its true motive for its hatred for Zuma.
The party did not want him gone in the interests of the country, it wanted to become him, to wield the power he had and control the patronage networks that have indebted the country, the way he did.
Gone are the days of it calling for the “Zuptas” to fall.
The fightback strategy shows that Zuma, his son Duduzane, former ANC North West chair Supra Mahumapelo, former ANC Free State premier Ace Magashule, former Sars commissioner Tom Moyane and former Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama are held up as paragons of virtue.
They are the personalities around which divisive cults are being built anew.
Moyane presided over the destruction of Sars, tightening the fiscal space for wanton looting under the Zuma era.
Without Sars functioning optimally, the very “white monopoly capital” so reviled by the Zuma faction and the EFF will be in prime position to evade its tax obligations.
Evidence of this is the destruction of the Sars largebusiness centre.
It had contributed some 30% to the total revenue collected, but was disbanded under Moyane’s watch, making it more difficult for Sars to collect its dues from large companies in the economy.
The fightback group is not only constituted of the corrupt but also the mediocre – the likes of Gigaba and Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina, who rose to prominence on the coat-tails of a chaotic project of self-enrichment.
The defenders of corruption are rallying while new crises unfold as a result of their actions.
On the East Rand on Thursday, people attacked and assaulted a midwife at a local clinic after a stillbirth on the delivery table.
The death of the foetus may not have been caused by healthcare workers, but the years of neglect and deep frustration of communities culminate regularly in a violent retaliation against those meant to serve them.
It is symptomatic of the inability of the government to provide decent healthcare to the poor and most people's inability to afford private healthcare.
Nurses at the clinic were pulled from their posts by members of trade union Denosa following the assault.
This is only one sign that healthcare facilities are reeling on the edge of collapse as a result of poor governance.
In many provinces essential services are not provided at clinics and hospitals because of shortages of staff, equipment and medicine.
Another group of matriculants will soon emerge from the schooling system illequipped to face the harsh realities of the higher education system and the job market.
Unemployment is at its highest, while the economy is limping.
And necessary land reform that does not damage the economy and food security is about to start.
These issues should be the primary fixation.
The money used to bail out state-owned entities that were at the heart of the state capture looting should be channelled to addressing health, education and land redress.
But some prefer to fixate on the rights of Gigaba, Zuma, Moyane and the like.
This will continue taking SA absolutely nowhere.
● This article first appeared on BDLIVE.