Is Zuma green with envy at Mao’s red republic?
China’s gains are impressive but few are templates for SA, writes after a visit
WHEN President Jacob Zuma arrived at the ANC’s KwaZulu-Natal elective congress in Pietermaritzburg — a day later than scheduled — he found a province split down the middle.
Divisions and ill-discipline had characterised the build-up.
Clearly this was not the kind of environment Zuma would have preferred. He would have expected the hero’s welcome he is accustomed to in his home province. Instead, the opposing factions sang derogatory songs about each other.
Addressing the gathering later, he dealt with the matter.
“What did Mao Zedong say about the blossoming of flowers? Just remind me,” he asked the crowd that had earlier sung songs attacking the candidates they did not support.
When there was no response, Zuma answered his own question. “Allow one thousand flowers to blossom . . . In other words, don’t suppress [other] comrades. The more the merrier,” he said.
Zuma’s decision to quote Mao, the founding father of the People’s Republic of China, was no random act. Zuma and the ANC are very fond of Mao’s Chinese Communist Party and are increasingly becoming admirers of President Xi Jinping’s government and some of its policies.
While delegates were still digesting Mao’s quote, Zuma went on. Talking about corruption, he said: “That [Chinese] Communist Party has millions of members. But it has strict discipline. That is why this system called capitalism is succeeding in China because it is under discipline . . . You can’t do your own things. If you are corrupt there, you disappear, uphambana nemvula [you get executed]. Bakuthola ukuthi ucorrupt uyahamba uyolusa amadada [They execute people who are found to be corrupt]. They do everything to develop their country — ungabathuka ushone le, abanandaba nawe [you can insult them all you like, they don’t care].”
On a recent trip to China, one of a few countries with a growing economy, the discipline that Zuma dreams of was visible on the streets. The streets of downtown Beijing are spotless, police and army personnel are deployed on almost every corner.
In Tiananmen Square, the scene of one of the most infamous massacres in recent Chinese political history, a large portrait of Mao overlooks the crowds that gather every afternoon to watch the national flag being lowered at 5pm — a display of patriotism that would make Zuma proud.
A senior Communist Party member who hosted a small South African media delegation at the foreign affairs offices in LAYING OUT THE RED CARPET: President Jacob Zuma inspects a guard of honour with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a visit to Beijing last year Beijing was not surprised by Zuma’s admiration of China.
Lin Songtian, who is also Chinese director-general of African affairs, was proud to confirm Zuma’s assessment of the party’s record in dealing with corruption. “The party has very strict discipline. You make a mistake one time, that’s it. You are finished. There is no second chance,” he said.
This newspaper could not publish Lin’s comments while this writer was in China as laws there dictate that an article be approved by censorship officials before it goes to print.
The ANC government has every right to admire the Chinese, as there are many things their government or ruling party do that are worth replicating. It was not by chance that China surpassed Japan in 2010 to become the world’s second-biggest economy after the US. This was inevitable due to its sheer size and well-functioning economy. China has a population of 1.4 billion while Japan has just more than 127 million people.
China opened its markets, declaring a number of free trade zones, which made it an attractive investment destination. It resulted in the economy growing at double digits. This pumped more money into the fiscus and the state was able to spend more on infrastructure and create new cities. China’s road network is world class, as is its broadband connectivity.
The above was largely achieved through cheap labour, a practice that could prove an obstacle for a country such as South Africa, which, unlike China, has pro-worker labour laws and active labour movements.
Also, in China, the state owns the five biggest banks and shares in a number of smaller banks. This, according to officials, gives the state more say in where the money is being invested, rather than waiting for the private sector to invest, as is the case in South Africa.
China’s local government seems to be working too. Litter is a rare sight in Beijing and faulty traffic lights are as rare as functional ones in the Johannesburg CBD on a rainy day.
These are some of the things Zuma and the ANC should be copying from the Chinese Communist Party, rather than admiring the execution of corrupt politicians.
One hopes the dozens of ANC leaders who undergo training at Communist Party schools stop taking notes when the Chinese tell them how they managed to block Google, Facebook and Twitter — or how they deploy SWAT police in nightclubs.
One hopes that ANC cadres close their ears when the Chinese teach them how the state controls all the almost 2 000 newspapers and more than 2 000 radio and TV stations.
There is no separation between party and state in China. An editor of one of the biggest newspapers, the Tianjin Daily, was proud to tell foreign journalists that his publication is owned by the Communist Party but gets funding from the government.
South Africans must pray that the ANC leaders look away when the Chinese make presentations about how journalists should be jailed for reporting negatively.
Dozens of Chinese journalists are in jail for publishing news that the Communist Party and its government wanted to keep secret.
Despite China having made significant progress in improving its infrastructure, the country, like South Africa, still has a large population of poor people.
According to government figures, China has more than 70 million poor people. But the UN puts this number at 200 million.
An ANC leader who was part of the delegation that recently visited China had nothing good to say about that country’s governance model.
The group, like many before it, had been taken to the Central Party School, then visited projects in rural areas where the government empowers the poor.
“They call themselves communists, but these people are all about making money,” the ANC leader said. “They own everything. We complain about the etolls back home but all the freeways here are tolled. This is not a good model for South Africa.”
As trade ties strengthen between South Africa and China, especially after the signing of 23 agreements worth R94-billion last week, more ANC leaders will visit the Asian giant. Hopefully they will come back with proper plans of how to get our economy out of the doldrums, create jobs and improve government efficiency to deliver basic services.
The party has strict discipline. You make a mistake one time, that’s it
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