A key partner in the multiparty coalition negotiations, the Freedom Front Plus, has warned the opposition not to put forward a white leader as a presidential candidate because South Africa is not ready for such a scenario.
FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald sounded this warning during an interview with the Sunday Times, in which he reiterated his preference for IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa to be the face of the opposition's coalition pact that seeks to unseat the ANC at next year’s elections.
The FF Plus is among parties that have agreed to meet next month in Johannesburg to draft a pact that outlines how they intend to govern the country should the ANC fall below 50% in 2024. Others include the DA, ActionSA, the IFP, the United Independent Movement and the National Spectrum Party.
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Groenewald's party experienced significant growth in the 2019 general and local government elections, making it the fifth-largest in South Africa. This week, he said the FF Plus is aiming for a million votes, a target he said some believe is impossible.
Asked if he thought the country was ready for a white president, Groenewald said: “No. We’re too close to apartheid still.”
It would be difficult to convince traditional ANC voters to ditch the governing party, with all its flaws, should the opposition pick a white leader as its presidential candidate, he said. The ANC and EFF had been campaigning on the race issue, warning voters about electing white people back into power, Groenewald added. “Don’t make a mistake, that is the perception. Purely on merit, if a white person is the best candidate, it should be a problem. But you are not going to get voters from the ANC to move their vote if they know it’s going to be a white person ... unfortunately.”
HLABISA FOR PRESIDENT
The FF Plus leader said he would argue at the convention that Hlabisa was the most suitable and qualified candidate to be earmarked as such.
“In the coalition, it does not necessarily mean the strongest partner ... and its leader should then be the president.
“We must have a competent person who will become the president. I think Hlabisa is competent. But it’s not final. It’s my opinion. But I stick to my opinion. Those decisions will still have to be taken.”
Asked what he thought of DA leader John Steenhuisen’s suitability for the job, Groenewald refused to be dragged into the debate, saying it wasn’t a “fair question at this moment”.
Even though I receive calls from Soweto … people ask me to come establish some branches in Soweto. But I’m realistic. I know the Freedom Front Plus is not a party that will get ANC supporters en masse to move away from it. But there are other political parties
“The reason I say that [is] you must remember we’re in negotiations for a coalition ... If I go on record to say he’s not a competent person to be a president, I don’t think that will enhance the situation in the coalition. That’s why I stick to what I said; that it does not necessarily mean it should be the strongest party leader [for] president.
“I always distinguish between politician and person. For instance, it does not mean we’re enemies. As a person, I like him ... the same with the ANC's Tina Joemat-Pettersson. I paid her tribute ... I said Tina always treated me with great respect and I treated her with respect. We differ on our policies as politicians. So to come back to your question, I will not go into that one.”
Then Groenewald explained why he thought Steenhuisen would not be the right choice.
“Not everyone becomes a party leader ... there must be some leadership in a person to become a leader of a political party. Even Julius Malema, he must have certain characteristics or something in him as a person to become leader of the EFF. It’s the same with John Steenhuisen. He must have something in him ... Some good thing. Some leadership features in him or he wouldn’t have become leader of the official opposition in South Africa. It’s not that I say he doesn’t have certain competencies. Not at all. But the question is, is he the most suitable person? And I believe there are other people and I said Hlabisa.”
MULTIPARTY COALITION
However, Groenewald said for the multiparty coalition to succeed, it would rely on parties like the DA to eat into the ANC constituency. He also expressed excitement about the establishment of the Rise Mzansi party, led by former Business Day editor Songezo Zibi.
“Even though I receive calls from Soweto ... people ask me to come establish some branches in Soweto. But I’m realistic. I know the Freedom Front Plus is not a party that will get ANC supporters in mass to move away from it. But there are other political parties.”
Groenewald said the ANC and EFF were excluded because the opposition intended working with those that shared the same values. He said the FF Plus had fundamental ideological differences with the EFF and ANC. The former's expropriation of land beliefs made it an unsuitable ally. And the ANC’s policies on affirmative action, black economic empowerment and rampant corruption in government made it impossible to include it in the coalition pact discussions. The Patriotic Alliance was also not invited to the negotiations because it had become unreliable — it ditched the opposition coalition in Johannesburg to join the ANC/EFF grouping that is now running the council.
Groenewald said for the coalition to win, the campaign to unseat the ANC should not only be left to politicians, but must be led by civil society formations.
“We must mobilise civil society. They must come on board to say we’ve had enough of the ANC government and we want change. We must save South Africa. But that should not be politically connected because the moment you have it politically connected, then civil society, civil organisations and unions will come forward and say: ‘No we’re not interested because it’s now political.’ So we must separate the two.”
According to Groenewald, the opposition coalition should devise a plan to create employment, grow the economy, deal with corruption and fight crime — as priorities.
But it seems difficult conversations will take place at next month’s convention. For instance, Groenewald said his party’s rightwing stance on affirmative action and black economic empowerment stands.
The FF Plus is also opposed to land reform in its current guise and wants government to prioritise the redistribution of state-owned land. It is also against the expropriation of land without compensation.
While he wants the coalition government to pursue state capture cases, he is opposed to the prosecution of apartheid crimes.
“There was a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and they've dealt with the issues. I mean, there are some members of the ANC itself, Thabo Mbeki for instance, they did not, can I say, receive [amnesty] ... because he was also part of organisations, that sort of thing. What I want to say is we had the TRC [and] it's a page we should close in South Africa.”
Groenewald said the National Party should have negotiated blanket amnesty for everyone implicated in apartheid crimes during the Codesa talks. It would be unfair to target members of the security forces as they were merely following orders, he added.
According to him, if black families were to be compensated for the losses they suffered, so should white people who lost families in the Anglo-Boer War.
I DON'T LIKE DA BRANDING
Groenewald said the FF Plus is opposed to the name Moonshot Pact as it is part of DA election campaign branding. “I’m opposed to the name Moonshot and the name Pact because the DA made the announcement at their conference without consulting any of the other opposition parties. And they came forward with this name. I’m on record as having said it is quite clear the DA is using the Moonshot Pact as branding in their campaign for next year. If we are still going to use that name, then the electorate will say: ‘All these parties, all talk about the moonshot — they are part of the moonshot. Why vote for other parties ... vote for the DA.' What I’m saying is I’m opposed to the moonshot pact because I’m not going to be part of the branding of the DA elections campaign.”
Groenewald said he feels strongly that the FF Plus should keep its identity and policies going into the elections.
“Let’s take for instance the issue of BEE and affirmative action; our view is that it should be about merit. For instance, BEE was not really empowerment, it was only black elite empowerment. Because it’s only a few people, politically connected, who received the benefits. They didn’t empower communities.
“When it comes to affirmative action, we say we only need one criterion, that is merit. We must get the best people to do the job irrespective of race. According to Stats SA, more black professionals left South Africa than white professionals.”
This was due to affirmative action and cadre deployment as black professionals were also disgruntled by the appointment of unqualified people, he said. However, Groenewald conceded that his stats about the exodus of black skills compared with their white counterparts could be because of the country’s demographics, with more black people than white people in the country. He said our country’s demographics were motivation enough for affirmative action to be abolished. “Because there are more black people in South Africa ... the same principle applies when it comes to qualifications. There are three times more black students at universities than white students. So ... you get more qualified black graduates than whites ... because of the natural process, of course you’ll get more black people into higher positions than white people..”
Groenewald said his party wants a trimmed cabinet, with 18 ministers and no deputies. The FF Plus is also firm on its policies regarding stripping trade unions of their powers and banning teachers from being unionised.
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