Opinion
Behind My Pipe Smoke
By Fanzo Skhova
12/08/2016
Perhaps let us agree it is an important question to ask given prevailing debate following the outcome of the Local Government Elections challenge posed by the Democratic Alliances and the Economic Freedom Fighters to successfully dislodge the grip of the African National Congress in key Metropolitan Cities. We are not to discuss the reasons we cannot be able to defend but shall stick with the obvious. The outcome of the local government elections is an indictment on the character and political performance of the ANC. Ironically, there was a slogan – iANC Ayisafani. There is a theory that some members and supporters seemed to take the slogan to another level. In the process there was finger-pointing at human weaknesses that have become a cancer that is eating away the moral of both comrade-leaders of the ANC. Needless to say that in their carefully considered view, service delivery was not arriving at a speed expected of the governing majority.
Supposing you subscribe to this view, your argument would be, comrade-leaders have changed. They seem to have betrayed the values of the liberation struggle and appear to have turned the “Power to the people” to themselves. You would further accuse them of only focusing on self-interest. Key words in this argument are changed, betrayed, abandoned, installed, power and self-interest. The narrative emerging here is that within the broader ANC there is us and you. Therefore, there is speculation around the possibility of deliberate miss-voting inspired by change of attitudes, an urge to betray and abandon the leaders who we initially entrusted with the power to govern. This is an attitude of a man who would rather be bitten by a neighbour’s bull-terrier than by his own Jack Russell.
One is tempted to find out how deep the bite wounds would go. Municipalities governed by the DA especially in the Western Cape have not been without their own share of service delivery protests. The point is, how much would the price of a revenge black vote be? It is an open secret that some whites held a view that services were biased towards blacks. Whilst hatching that thought, they err by neglecting the objective of attaining redress and equity born by apartheid. Is this an opportunity for them to reverse the perceived imbalance to achieve their special kind of redress and equity that seemingly happened since 1994? There is also talk that the blue side of politics have always “felt“ that there was laxity in law and order as well as perceived excessive lenience on the side of the courts in dealing with criminal elements. Could this mark the return of tough as steel apartheid style laws?
Whatever becomes of tomorrow, the truth is that past the 3rd of August, here rose a huge, dark smoke of uncertainty. Twisted opinions, attitudes and arrogance seem to paint a bleak road map towards coalition desires. Meanwhile, the EFF is seen to be determined to make those intending to team-up with them sweat and beg. For that, the judges give another point to go the DA. This may not be a good sign for the poor. It also leaves a massive responsibility for the DA to prove that they not just a party of white-interests with a few insignificant black stripes.
Tshwane shall wait to see the day a company will be overlooked for a tender simply because its credentials are too BEE. Will its poor residents receive the open-air toilets that once put the City of Cape Town on the world map? Are pass-laws coming back? Look, these are simply extremes. They won’t dare! The world is watching! The country is not taken, but fertile land is. At least that is how those of you who believe in a black government would like to exclaim. Coalition between the EFF and ANC and a similar approach in other municipalities and metros may be seen as a black unity against a recapture by the white master. I do not believe anyone cares right now whether they are seen through the eye of colour or not. The focus is recapturing black power.
Whatever happens, there is much to gain in as much as there is much to loose. The big question is: who will gain at the expense of whose loss?
In Nelson Mandela Municipality, the DA has sworn never to let go of that Municipality and I bet it is the same should they get Tshwane and Johannesburg? They have proved it with Cape Town, their margin has drastically gone up amidst the cries from black communities there. My take is that the ANC is in a question in time to take its leadership to the next level. OR Tambo once warned that “it is a much difficult war to stay in power than to be in a liberation struggle”. Is the ANC losing the war to stay in power…? The talk of self-correct and introspection has to be deeper and genuine for the ANC to transform itself to be relevant to the challenges it faces today or the DA will seize the moment and start being relevant to the ANC constituency including encroaching in the ANC rural strongholds.
Fanzo Skhova is an independent media commentator, his views are not necessarily those of Moretele Times.
