Without
spoiling jovialities common to South African festive indulgences with
elaborations about an impending global catastrophe or doomsday, I have alas
been watching the humdrum at Mangaung with a dispiriting mood of a man
hypnotised by ‘an extra-terrestrial invasion or a viral infestation’. Perhaps,
the proverbial blazes from the sun that shall consume an earth full of hope
were what brewed the pulp that was dished out during the conference while
the cheetahs slept inebriated by sponsored alcohol.
For the
ruling party, their farewells are duly attended to though, when a populace of
uninformed electorate managed to shoot itself in the foot for the fourth time.
How is it I am saying this; because a number of realities about an ending are
evident. There is the Mayan prophetic conundrum which has everyone in a
tail-spin, then global wars seeming to materialise from some shadows of
apocryphal scriptures, springing to the foreground every weekend like new teams
on football fields. But what could be said about an end to an era which sadly
is highlighted by a repetition of sordid decay for the South African
population?
First, ‘this
is how god had it organised’ - that our deputy president would be custodian to
a R19 million buffalo. Second, the plight of the poor will fall on deaf ears
who only hear noises of protestation residually like echoes through an empty
cathedral. Some might feel that corruption has been inaugurated for another
term, which will be Armageddonic to say the least, but when bred in a fatalistic
society which believes in a God-Sent cessation of all reality, why not expect a
people to pillage and plunder at the final and crucial hour for mankind?
The one
interesting discourse that gagged much of the substance out of the Mangaung
issue has been the utter lack an overall critique that is not based on
individuals and the so-called rift in the organization. The matter is that this
centenary marks an end of a party, and the final nails on the coffin of a
cherished heritage are hammered under guard of leopards.
From the
reconciliatory failures of the Mandela presidency, to the deterred renaissance
dreams of Mbeki, our recently suited Mr Delivery has proven to be slower than
the postal system when it comes to grassroots materialisation of electioneering promises
for which the party is notoriously known.
These
mean an organizational failure. With a pitiful record in providing education,
leading to shortages of skills; today, a quarter of the population is unemployed,
up from 20% since the First Black President was inaugurated.
The ANC
is facing a public outcry, and as a party it is caught in a catch 22 where concession
that government cannot implement its verbose and ambitious policies without the
private sector – means losing the bulk of national assets back to the
conglomerates that inherited the country’s wealth through colonial
affiliations. This would in turn be viewed by the radical masses as selling-out
to a business civilization grounded in values of possessive individualism,
competition, greed which characterises corruption.
And claiming
that government can implement these policies would send a message to the
corporate that you are not needed, and make foreign investors apprehensive. In
turn, the corporates would mechanize workspaces and force retrenchments, thus
forcing the country to its knees.
Which of
the elite members who benefit from the private coffers of private sector
connections will be willing to part with those privileges of monopoly
capitalism?
The party
went to the elective conference with a leprous leadership wrangling for power,
with a membership buffeted by infighting and factionalist divisions. And how
did a nation poised to ration expect a change of voice from the leaders and the
grass roots. Absent from their internal debate has been any consideration of
the ideas or temperament of the greatest population of mine-workers,
farm-workers and the unemployed youth.
Instead,
we are given a deputy who is well alleged to have been not-solely responsible
for The Marikana Massacre.
I beg to
question the logic behind building colossal hospitals when clinics are in
shambles, and later complain about over congestion in health facilities.
On
December 16th the ruling African National Congress (ANC) gathered several
thousand of its delegates for a five-yearly “elective” conference in Mangaung, where
they spent four days reviewing policies, proposing new party leaders as well as
charting a new future for the party.
Sadly, I
feel the future foreseen hereafter is a short-lived age of the pillage of the
land through a web of corruption spun up by bureaucrats who are experts in
cultivating "special relations". The brute force of a police force
comprised of recruited criminals will make a battlefield of this derelict land
of plunder.
An
uneducated and unhealthy nation, deprived of health care reform and economic
resources for empowerment is sure to implode.
The
stranglehold on consumers by banking institutions, fostering legislative
authority on issues of citizens’ financial security stands to benefit from
endorsements attained from an unscrupulously indebted party leadership deemed infallible.
Abject passivity of the people and their continued expression of discontent will become a nuisance for the ruling party, and a counter-revolutionary
verdict against the native elite would have been handed out.
A party
once reputable for being a symbol of the durability of a collective struggle is
now allowed to rot in its short-lived euphoria of momentary wealth, while
destitute masses continue to forage among vultures.
The
personality cult enjoyed by many has eclipsed the bright examples paved by
stalwarts such as John L Dube and Govan Mbeki, and cadres will wistfully enjoy
special privileges, extra-legal provisions and kinsman nepotism.
And as Vishwas Satgar recently noted, ‘increasingly what we are witnessing is an
ANC state that is completely impervious to social pressures and voice from
below. Instead, it privileges managing risk to capital over risk to people and
nature. And that is the essence of the neoliberal capitalist order that we
face.’
In the
meanwhile, a nation is inundated with legislative experiments canonised through
vaccination and sterilization programs disguised as precautionary medical
interventions, while education is being devalued through slave incubator
tutorials at tertiary level to make up for lost textbooks at high school level.
(Picture from the internet)
