Time to change our mindset
South Africa is diverse and that's what makes the country attractive. The political landscape is heterogeneous and fiercely contested – a situation that serves as a pillar for multiparty democracy and a counterbalance to dictatorial practices.
Civil society is relatively robust and vibrant and is beginning to be a critical theatre of ideas. This is good for the preservation of the first-generation rights platform.
This critical approach should be extended to the need to attain economic justice.
Political freedom and economic freedom are theoretically intertwined and the execution of these freedoms should not be separated.
How to translate the concept of economic freedom into reality should have been agreed upon a long time ago and the failure to put theory into practice has exposed the limitations of the current leadership.
The advent of “radical economic transformation” rhetoric was the result of political heat waves masterminded by strategic political opponents, and progressive opinion makers.
It has resulted in political paranoia and miscalculations on the part of the ruling oligarchy, creating political uncertainty and a trust deficit.
This has played a pivotal role in changing the balance of forces and created space for political power to be usurped through the ballot box.
We have to pose a question, although it may ruffle feathers.
Currently, do we have an organisation/s with the ability to take South Africa forward to a prosperous and equitable society?
This question is asked against the backdrop of the fragmentation of the ANC and the political emasculation of the SACP.
The ANC has fundamentally deviated from its historic mission, as confirmed by ANC veterans at a recent press conference in Joburg.
Cosatu and the SACP have weakened themselves through their indulgence in intra-ANC dynamics, neglecting their constituencies. As a result, their fragile ground floor structures have dissipated. The SACP and Cosatu are also a breeding ground for factionalism.
The expulsion of Numsa is a case at hand, resulting in the birth of an independent union federation to be launched in March 2017.
Neither structure is ideologically or politically coherent, and they have become less relevant to the prevailing challenges.
The SACP has been strategically outflanked by the EFF in all respects; however, political substance could be a different story.
The EFF is a major menace to the long-term survival of the ANC, and has stretched the movement’s political ability to the limit.
In the past, the ANC was good in strategy, tactics and communication. Astoundingly, the EFF has occupied these three critical political success factors.
On the other hand, the DA is positioning itself as the good governance messiah.
This strategic posture outshines the ANC, which is found wanting on critical issues of governance. The DA’s strategy is to use state entities under its political jurisdiction as pilot projects for its longterm relevance.
The fact of the matter is that SA has become a highly contested space. Alarmingly, under such fragile circumstances, the ANC has made itself prone to all sorts of misdemeanours.
They may challenge the authenticity of this submission, but empirical evidence is clear on these matters.
The ANC has contributed immensely to the political malaise characterising the political space. What is needed is to ensure that our situation does not deteriorate to one that mirrors pathetic situations in other African states.
Civil society should ensure the preservation of our democratic project in the long term, such platforms serving as a checks and balances mecha- nism to counteract intolerance. The ruling elite in some African states enjoy control over state apparatus, exploiting the fragility of civil society to advance their self-serving agendas. As a result of this gap, the populace is exposed to despotic misrule.
The African Diaspora is by and large a byproduct of dictatorial practices unleashed against innocuous people. African leaders should lower their heads when they come across the word African Diaspora because they’ve largely contributed to this undesirable phenomenon.
These are some of the dynamics contributing to unfortunate events perceived to be xenophobic. We need to get to the root causes of such tensions and not scratch the surface. They are symptomatic of a deeply entrenched socioeconomic problem.
Every state has the responsibility to look after its citizens. People should migrate to other countries in accordance with their will, and not through coercive measures. In many instances people leave their countries to avoid persecution.
We need to re-define the concept of freedom and its application in the context of Africa.
Throngs of innocent and unarmed people, civilians in particular, have been exterminated for no apparent reason. Some of the horrendous acts committed under the banner of freedom are atrocious compared to brutality meted against innocent people during the colonial epoch.
Be that as it may, the future of Africa is not wholly sombre; slow-paced progress has been made on many fronts.
African countries should stop playing the blame game. The following cannot be associated with colonialism: looting of limited resources; extermination of innocent civilians; rigging of elections and certain atrocities.
The ANC had reasonable time at its disposal to make a dent on socio-economic problems. Instead of focusing on substantive issues, it opted to pursue factional struggles. Today it finds itself in a serious predicament because all its leadership structures, government structures included, are factional products.
Factionalism makes people suspicious and mistrustful of anything presented by opponents, irrespective of merit. The obsession with the decolonisation of the mind should also take into account the defactionalisation of the mind.
Substantive transformation requires a change of mindset.
Factionalism has contributed to the changing of the balance of forces in disfavour of the ANC in certain areas within the country. The ANC could lose the Gauteng province unless sanity prevails at the end of the day.
The support of the ANC has declined quite significantly in urban areas, which in the past were hotbeds of revolution. In such areas, levels of political awareness are quite high compared to rural areas.
In Durban and the surrounding areas, political opponents have made visible inroads, with an increase in the number of opposition parties serving on the eThekwini Metropolitan Council.
Take into account that metros make a significant contribution to the GDP.
The ANC is also fragmented in KZN due to political missteps.
It’s fallacious to paint the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal as a monolithic political entity, even though TV may have created a different picture: the province concerned has deepseated political schisms. A different outcome may emerge as we approach the December 2017 ANC elective conference.
Another hidden dimension relating to the conference is that its leadership outcomes could be determined through Art of War (the military treatise from 5th century Chinese strategist Sun Tzu) strategic interventions.
Do not rule out this possibility, taking into account that the protagonists are from different complex backgrounds.
The stakes are too high, and the President has to ensure that the playing field leading to his retirement has been levelled. These processes could further divide the already fragmented movement, and could also split the ANC.
The 2019 national elections may deliver a political hybrid outcome. The balance of forces is in a state of flux. • Christian Mxoliswa Mbekela
is a strategic work consultant specializing in HR, EE and risk management. Former SAYCO NEC member and he was part of the team that re-established
the ANC Youth League. He is currently doing PhD in the Sociology Department at Rhodes
University. www.cmmmindpower.co.za