January 8 occupies an important place in ANC history. This is the date the movement was formed in 1912. Sixty-two years later, in 1974, January 8 became not just a birthday but the day the ANC’s NEC under OR Tambo released a statement giving marching orders to the people of South Africa, instructing them to fight harder against apartheid while the party mobilised world solidarity. During this time, the celebrations we see today were not possible.
Post 1994, the ANC took charge of government after Nelson Mandela’s election. The joy that the fascist regime withheld was back; comrades could now celebrate. But the revolutionary fire was still burning, and so January 8, while being celebrated, did not lose its core business of giving umhlahlandlela (a line of march). The NEC gave impetus to what the government would do for the year. Hope filled everyone’s hearts, and the leaders of the movement were loved by all. As the years passed, the dream became deferred and the day lost its vivacity. From being a revolutionary day, it became a day of profuse partying, empty promises, lying, conniving and drinking.
As the ANC leaders descended into the North West province ahead of January 8 this year, the vultures too descended — the baddies, the slayers, the entrepreneurs, the extortionists, the lobbyists, the factionalists. Like the leaders of the ANC, they shout “Awethu” and punch their fists in the air. But they do not mean it; they are there for other reasons. The entrepreneurs are there to make sure the leadership is taken care of, and the slayers are there to keep the leadership company. They book all accommodation around the stadium, drinking expensive alcohol and plotting about the next conference of the ANC. Those Mercedes-Benz Vianos are not carrying activists; they carry vultures feeding off the power of the people in the hands of the ANC.
The long statement read by the president no longer moves people; in fact, most people are tuned out. Even those who occupy the stage scroll through their phones half the time. The people bussed in from all over the country are the real foot soldiers. Some of them attend to escape their daily miseries. For the first time, they see a president and all the famous politicians they otherwise see only on television. And of course, they will have a meal — but this time the leadership did not give people food as promised, which was sad.
I do not argue that January 8 is useless. The statement of the NEC remains important and contains some milestones and some aspirations of the ANC. My point is that these messages no longer move people. Often, we scroll through our televisions or scroll past a newsfeed about the day. There is nothing now that connects the people with the day; I doubt many even know its significance.
We ought to move beyond nostalgia; the olden days were hard, they are littered with marvellous stories of triumph and resilience. That history must be cherished and guarded jealously, for it reminds us of all of the capabilities of a people determined to be free.
However, the political situation requires a change of tactics now. The ANC needs to think of January 8 as a moment of not only celebration but also as a day of reconnecting with the people. Instead of a national rally hosted in one province, the day must be a campaign of serving communities and addressing service delivery issues. The ANC no longer has the power and time to celebrate. If it continues to behave as if it is still the ANC of yesteryear, it will continue to be aloof. Its leaders will, at best, believe there is no crisis in South Africa and, at worst, argue that the youth are lazy.
— Sbonelo Radebe, PhD student, University of Cape Town
Chairman Trump’s Great Leap Backward
We should not be surprised by President Donald Trump’s antics. Most observers recognised early his personality flaws, limited intellect, corruption and primitive view of world affairs and economic realities.
In his second term, he has, perhaps inadvertently, followed the rule book for destroying both America’s global power and its domestic prosperity: attacks on universities, the sabotage of scientific research, the devastation of expertise in government and its specialised agencies and the feeding of polarisation and hatred.
Globally he has adopted tariffs that affect friends and foes alike, made wild threats to annex Greenland and Canada, divided allies and Nato, withdrawn the US from the global architecture and supported Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine operation.
All countries produce a few destructive leaders who, given the opportunity, create havoc for their own and other countries.
What is unique is that Trump has succeeded in the US, a country with centuries of experience, albeit imperfect at times, as a free and democratic society. Until recently it was believed its guardrails would make it impossible for any leader to follow the path of autocracy.
But Trump has broken the myth of the constrained presidency.
He has taken over the once-proud Republican Party and driven genuine conservatives into the desert. He has ridden roughshod over the powers of Congress. He has ignored the law with the tacit support of the US Supreme Court. He has cowed the once-proud media.
Although his personal limitations have long been recognised by the opportunistic right-wing media led by Fox News and assorted billionaires, they have supported him for their own cynical interests.
Mao Zedong set out to remake China, but his Great Leap Forward and Great Proletarian Revolution drove China into the ground. Mao was driven by a perverse desire to make China great again. Trump has followed the Mao guide and will achieve the same results.
But Mao at least was in some ways a misguided idealist. Trump is destroying the US not out of misguided patriotism but out of greed and ego. The results will be equally tragic for the US and the world. The US has found its own Mao!
— The writer is a former Sunday Times columnist and University of Cape Town emeritus professor now based in the US. He is withholding his name because he fears deportation. — Editor
DA likes its gravy too
Ministers’ answers to recent ActionSA parliamentary questions, revealing that the GNU cabinet spent over R500m on travel and accommodation costs in its first 18 months, ring serious alarm bells. The fact that DA ministers appear just as profligate, excessive and evasive as their ANC counterparts left me sick to my stomach.
We’ve long expected arrogance and evasion from ANC ministers and the deputy president, but what makes this so disgraceful is seeing how quickly and easily many DA cabinet ministers have climbed aboard the GNU gravy train and spent our tax money on their luxury travel and overseas accommodation.
Worse, we read that some DA ministers, such as Dean Macpherson and John Steenhuisen, have been evasive and avoided having to declare their expenses. They are as bad as the ANC and Nats before them. What has happened? Helen Suzman is turning in her grave. Helen Zille remains silent.
— Mark Lowe, Durban
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