South Africa needs more activists, not more politicians

Waging the battle for a better South Africa is an honourable, necessary and urgent cause — but is the ballot the most effective tool? 

In other words, is South Africa in need of another political party? Maybe, but what the nation should never lack are effective activists, the real drivers of change.  

The world is in constant need of change and throughout history, activism that achieves that change has been driven by those deprived of their basic rights —  not by elected politicians.  Our country is no exception.  

We are not short of political parties — in fact as the next general election draws closer, parties are mushrooming. Most will differ in policy but the goal will be the same: to make my life and yours better than it is today. 

It is a right we should never try to limit.  But what value does a ballot paper longer than Thabo Bester’s charge sheet contribute to a society  beset by voter apathy? A society that has no faith in politics as a driver of change?

Citizens in a country governed as ours is will always be in need of more from the state and mobilising in pursuit of their demands is an important feature of our democracy. 

Yet it feels as if that  sector of democracy, civil society, is slowly slipping away from the consciousness of our youngest, best and brightest  as they pursue political office. 

While political formations are a necessary structure of our democracy, when needed they have fallen short. 

We are in need of leaders and not all of them should be  pursuing political office.

The righteousness of standing on the side of the South African people does not require a political banner — the South African flag is enough.

 Effective work that will touch the life of a South African who will  probably never meet a president doesn’t require one to be a politician.

The  influence of activism on elected leaders is a powerful  force — history is littered with examples of such influence.

President Lyndon B Johnson didn’t sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to overcome legal barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote because he woke up and felt like it — it was the movement led by Martin Luther King jr that put the necessary pressure on him to act.

Universal access to HIV/Aids treatment through the public health system in South Africa wasn’t expedited by a political party —  it was  the unelected Zackie Achmat  and the Treatment Action  Campaign that tirelessly agitated  to ensure timeous access to life-saving medication. 

The influence of activism on elected leaders is a powerful force — history is littered with examples of such influence

It was SECTION27 and Equal Education that stood with Michael Komape's family in setting a precedent of accountability by the department of education when the little boy drowned in a pit latrine at a Limpopo school — it was not a political party.

It wasn’t the international coalition of more than 60 countries present in Kojo, northern Iraq, that raised alarm about Yazid women held in captivity as sex slaves by Isis — it was a young survivor called Nadia Murad.

Nassima al-Sada didn’t need political power to pressure the Saudi Arabian government to overturn its ban on women driving — she needed a voice and she used it despite repression. 

The landmark victory  in granting land rights  to aboriginal Australians  was a result of the efforts of a gardener, Eddie Mabo, not a nice politician in a suit. 

I am in no way suggesting that South Africa has no activists, but I am certain that we need more social justice movements than politicians.

I hope for a world in which our activists see their power beyond the confines of political formations.

The hard work required for the just South Africa we seek  is inspired by efforts born of discontent. We need to push our elected leaders  to bring about a better country. 

We need more pushers, not more of those who must be pushed. Unfortunately, it is political parties that are growing in numbers.