It is welcome to see a minister sharing his thoughts with the public. Often, politicians in South Africa are not keen to engage in public discourse. Writing in the Sunday Times last week, minister of public works & infrastructure Sihle Zikalala made important observations, albeit dishonest ones.
Nevertheless, he must be commended for his contribution. At least we know there are people in the ANC who take time to think about the direction our country is going in; it gives us a glimpse of hope that some of them are worried.
There are a few issues with Zikalala’s analysis that I want to address: what he terms the persistence of colonial apartheid and capital exploitation; his attack on the national democratic revolution (NDR); and his remarks on how the deepening gap between the haves and have-nots is caused by “prolonged transformational processes”.
Zikalala is a politician. We know, for instance, about his thirst for water — demonstrated last year when he was still premier of KwaZulu-Natal and made sure he received priority for delivery of emergency water supplies after the floods destroyed infrastructure.
Zikalala is a politician and an ANC leader; accountability is not a language the ANC understands. Georgetown University political science professor R Kent Weaver teaches us that “politicians are motivated primarily by the desire to avoid blame for unpopular actions”. So, this is expected of Zikalala.
The persistence of colonial apartheid and capital exploitation
South Africa’s problems reflect the failures of the ANC, not necessarily of capitalism. While capitalism is an overarching global challenge, the ANC of Zikalala has, with some exceptions, shown no desire to oppose it.
The alleged party of communists (SACP) has warned for years against neoliberal policies. The persistent legacy of colonial apartheid is the result of ANC cowardice. In 1994 it failed to engineer a programme with a clear reparation strategy to abolish the apartheid legacy.
To make matters worse, the ANC blocked efforts by the Khulumani Support Group and others to hold the corporate beneficiaries of apartheid accountable. In April 2003, US attorney Ed Fagan filed a lawsuit in New York against multinationals that included De Beers and Anglo American.
The then president Thabo Mbeki, seeking to protect investor sentiment, distanced the government from the lawsuits. His minister of justice & constitutional development, Penuell Maduna, submitted an affidavit to the US court opposing the lawsuit.
So whose fault is it that the legacy of colonial apartheid persists? The ANC has protected criminals in the name of capitalist investment that seeks to exploit the country’s resources even further.
So whose fault is it that the legacy of colonial apartheid persists? The ANC has protected criminals in the name of capitalist investment that seeks to exploit the country’s resources even further
The attack was directed at the ideals of the NDR
You are correct, minister; people cannot eat ideas. Anyway, it does not seem the ANC believes in ideas. Amílcar Cabral was trying to tell us that we ought to act on ideas; they must be vehicles for transformation at a material level. To argue that the ideals of the NDR — a nonsexist and nonracial society — are under attack from “opportunism” is to try to deflect blame away from the ANC.
It is basic politics that a vacuum is created by the absence of leadership. We find ourselves in this situation because of the lack of leadership from the ANC, not because of opportunism. Minister, your department is struggling with construction mafia opportunists who exploit the weakness of the state to enrich themselves. If we had a fully functional, capable state and an ideologically sound movement, the construction mafia would never have come into being.
The deepening gap between haves and have-nots
I am awestricken that you are aware the inequality gap is caused by “prolonged transformational processes” — you admit to the truth that the ANC is inefficient. Transformation is a process, but it must unfold at a pace convincing enough to achieve its goals. The National Development Plan review recently revealed that practically nothing has been done. The NDP’s vision for 2030 remains unrealistic. It is these realities that threaten the transformation agenda envisaged in the NDR.
Let me end by saying, minister, that the struggle is not the product of the ANC. Rather, the ANC is a product of the struggle; the people are capable of waging a struggle without the ANC. Call them opportunist all you want for their “lack of the tools of analysis” but their patience in the face of 30 years of ANC failings is not endless.
You and I from a comradeship view know that the problem is the ANC. Had it taken leadership of society seriously, opportunism would have been avoided. However, the soul of the ANC is wounded, so the noble ideals will continue to recede, and populists will prey on the restive masses.
* Radebe is a PhD candidate in the history department at the University of Cape Town
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