This month marks the 40th anniversary of the formation of the now defunct United Democratic Front.
The organisation existed as a legal entity for a very short time, and much of that period was characterised by bannings, arrests and other forms of state-sponsored harassment.
But its role in changing the course of South African history, specifically the ending of the apartheid system, cannot be doubted.
Since the beginning of the year much has been written about this role, with many of its founders reflecting on the front’s proud history as an umbrella body for community, youth, church, worker and other formations that kept the fires of resistance against apartheid burning under deadly conditions.
Much more is bound to be said this month as many other former activists reminisce about the bad old 1980s and, inevitably, compare the personal sacrifices the era demanded to the disappointment arising from what post-apartheid South Africa has turned out to be.
Lamenting the current state of affairs is almost a universal feature of much of the commentary, even though the former activists differ sharply on the causes.
There are those, however, who have taken the 40th anniversary celebrations as an opportunity to remind South Africans of what could have been.
From their perspective, the UDF was an organisation whose non-racial and multi-class character was both its main strength and the basis from which a truly non-racial post-apartheid society could have been formed.
There is no justification for anyone to render any part of the country 'ungovernable' just to have their grievances heard
In a South Africa where political entrepreneurs seem to profit handsomely from exploiting racial differences and seeking to lure citizens into the supposed safety of ethnic enclaves, the UDF stands as a shining example that working across all those differences to achieve a common goal is possible.
Instead of further drifting apart, as we sometimes seem to be doing when one looks at topical issues on any given day — be they Russia’s war on Ukraine, National Health Insurance or Julius Malema’s insistence on chanting “kill the boer” — we should be learning from the UDF example and forging new alliances and connections to solve some of the problems the country is faced with.
There are others who will remember the UDF in its insurrectionary role. The organisation and its affiliates played major parts in bringing to practical reality the then exiled ANC president Oliver Tambo’s 1985 clarion call to “make apartheid unworkable” and to “render South Africa ungovernable”.
The mass struggles that ensued as a result may not have toppled the government, but they massively contributed to the sense of crisis that engulfed the Nats — forcing them to search for a negotiated settlement with the ANC and other anti-apartheid formations.
We are way beyond that era now as South Africa has been under democratic rule, and holding elections at periodic intervals on a regular basis, for the past 30 years.
We have legitimate administrations at national, provincial and local levels that can be said to be a true reflection of voters’ wishes, no matter what we may think of their individual performances.
Our constitution and the country’s laws guarantee everyone’s freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and the right to protest.
There is, therefore, no justification for anyone to render any part of the country “ungovernable” just to have their grievances heard.
Yet violent protests, such as the one that saw a couple of buses and other forms of transport torched and thousands of commuters forced to walk for tens of kilometres to get to their homes from work and school in Cape Town, continue to be a common occurrence.
Without getting into the merits of the taxi association’s grievances against the City of Cape Town and whether it is true that the DA-led municipality is “victimising” the local taxi industry, the protest methods used should not be tolerated in a democracy where the rule of law is supposed to reign supreme.
But such violent protests continue to happen, causing death and the destruction of property, often without any consequences for the perpetrators.
Of course law-enforcement agencies need to play their part for this to stop and for citizens to be safe.
However, the UDF’s 40th anniversary celebrations are perhaps the best period to start a serious conversation about what else can be done to end the culture of destructive protesting and, generally, make South Africa truly governable.
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