My mind is still on Polokwane and will probably remain there until the closing ceremony of The Conference on 20 December when the new leader will deliver his inaugural speech and we will have an indication of what to expect over the next five years. Zuma and Mbeki by all indication are the only two candidates in real contention and this is not healthy for the party as neither of them present a reassuring record of leadership or much promise of a meaningful departure from this path of impending chaos their lack of leadership as ruler and deputy ruler has set us on in the first place.
The odds that the African National Congress will split if Mbeki is re-elected as leader of the party is not insubstantial. Even in the scenario of a Zuma leadership this possibility is not alltogether excluded over the duration of his term in office.
It would be a mournful day indeed if the grande old dame, who came to life during the dehumanizing era of British colonialism, overcame the staunch Afrikaner nationalism of Malan, Strijdom and Verwoerd, rode out the brutality of Vorster and survived the deadly eighties under the siege of the Botha’s, finally succumbs not to her enemies, but to the self interest of her own sons. The sad thing is that this might happen on the eve of her centenary and that she, who so deserves it, may not live see her one hundredth birthday in the form that she was intended to exist: as the vehicle for unified pursuit of equality, freedom and dignity for all.
She is an eccentric old gal, our party. Her colourful and sometimes tainted history is so full of ironies, funny events and tales of strangeness that one can write an entire book about it. One of the more serious ironies is in the fact that in spite of protests to the contrary and institutionalised opposition to ethnic discrimination, tribalism still plays a major role in the leadership of the ANC. For the last two decades or perhaps even longer some Xhosa’s in the upper echelons of the party have apparently laid exclusive claim for members of their clans to the position of highest leadership in the party to the exclusion of members of other African ethnicities such as Zulu’s, Sotho’s, Sepedi’s, Tswanas, etc etc, while they strive at the same time to maintain control also of the executive body of the party.
What this so called “Xhosa Nostra” in its attempts to hijack the leadership for itself seems to forget, and herein lies the next delicious irony, is that the very founder of the organisation our ANC originated from (the South African National Native Congress established on the 8th of January 1912) was in fact a Zulu man whose original vision was to resurrect his once proud Zulu nation from its humiliation under white colonial rule and restore Zulu pride and heritage. This Zulu man, Pixley Ka Izaka Seme, however, upon witnessing the horrendous plight of all Africans under the Union government, departed from the ethnic orientation of his plans and decided that this freedom movement should actually include all of the oppressed and aim to create a single powerful united African nation to counter the colonialists.
(See the history of Seme at
The odds that the African National Congress will split if Mbeki is re-elected as leader of the party is not insubstantial. Even in the scenario of a Zuma leadership this possibility is not alltogether excluded over the duration of his term in office.
It would be a mournful day indeed if the grande old dame, who came to life during the dehumanizing era of British colonialism, overcame the staunch Afrikaner nationalism of Malan, Strijdom and Verwoerd, rode out the brutality of Vorster and survived the deadly eighties under the siege of the Botha’s, finally succumbs not to her enemies, but to the self interest of her own sons. The sad thing is that this might happen on the eve of her centenary and that she, who so deserves it, may not live see her one hundredth birthday in the form that she was intended to exist: as the vehicle for unified pursuit of equality, freedom and dignity for all.
She is an eccentric old gal, our party. Her colourful and sometimes tainted history is so full of ironies, funny events and tales of strangeness that one can write an entire book about it. One of the more serious ironies is in the fact that in spite of protests to the contrary and institutionalised opposition to ethnic discrimination, tribalism still plays a major role in the leadership of the ANC. For the last two decades or perhaps even longer some Xhosa’s in the upper echelons of the party have apparently laid exclusive claim for members of their clans to the position of highest leadership in the party to the exclusion of members of other African ethnicities such as Zulu’s, Sotho’s, Sepedi’s, Tswanas, etc etc, while they strive at the same time to maintain control also of the executive body of the party.
What this so called “Xhosa Nostra” in its attempts to hijack the leadership for itself seems to forget, and herein lies the next delicious irony, is that the very founder of the organisation our ANC originated from (the South African National Native Congress established on the 8th of January 1912) was in fact a Zulu man whose original vision was to resurrect his once proud Zulu nation from its humiliation under white colonial rule and restore Zulu pride and heritage. This Zulu man, Pixley Ka Izaka Seme, however, upon witnessing the horrendous plight of all Africans under the Union government, departed from the ethnic orientation of his plans and decided that this freedom movement should actually include all of the oppressed and aim to create a single powerful united African nation to counter the colonialists.
(See the history of Seme at
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/congress/began.html)
In the ethnically inspired rumblings of Mbeki’s predominantly Xhosa speaking opinion makers who influence the predominantly Xhosa speaking men who fill most of the decisive chairs in his administration, another beautiful irony could have been found if only the Zulu claimant to the throne, Jacob Zuma, was a man of such irreproachable character that he could be “faulted” by these bigots on his ethnicity only instead of being one who presented his mainly Xhosa speaking detractors with ample opportunity to obscure their ethnic bigotry behind references to his dodgy personal associations, questionable social habits and possible prosecution on charges of corruption and bribery that can be brought against him.
On the other side of the struggle for leadership of the party stands the current President of both party and country, one Thabo Mbeki - Xhosa Nostra crown prince, leader designate by virtue of his last name, who sailed unopposed into the position of vice president first and supreme ruler later after “the family” eliminated by way of their unique methods of persuasion all those candidates whose aspirations interfered with the path towards the throne of The Anointed One. The sad irony in his case is that he himself may be implicated in the same incidence of corruption and bribery he cited as motivation two years ago when he dismissed his deputy, the very Zuma of Zululand I just spoke of.
This is not the first time, however, that the party is threatened by lack of integrity or weird behavior in her leadership. Hell, in her history of strangeness her very founder succumbed to it and almost destroyed her in the process. Much like Mbeki, Pixley Ka Izaka Seme, in spite of his brilliance and vision and the sheer willpower with which he established the party, was also a man who “believed in his mind only, and therefore could not listen to the advices of other men”.
But her tale of eccentricities and ironies may no longer be funny, because the mother who gave birth to our freedom is dying, dying from the self interest and bigotry, the lethargy and lack of commitment of some of her children who disregard their precious sibling named Freedom. She cannot afford for the others to be silent any more, or accommodating of the indolence of their brothers, or to tolerate their presumptuousness and their arrogance any longer. She is sick to the point of dying.
But there is also an alternative perspective on the demise of our dame: maybe, like every aged mother, she is designated to die to make way for the coming generations. Or maybe she even has a choice.
In the ethnically inspired rumblings of Mbeki’s predominantly Xhosa speaking opinion makers who influence the predominantly Xhosa speaking men who fill most of the decisive chairs in his administration, another beautiful irony could have been found if only the Zulu claimant to the throne, Jacob Zuma, was a man of such irreproachable character that he could be “faulted” by these bigots on his ethnicity only instead of being one who presented his mainly Xhosa speaking detractors with ample opportunity to obscure their ethnic bigotry behind references to his dodgy personal associations, questionable social habits and possible prosecution on charges of corruption and bribery that can be brought against him.
On the other side of the struggle for leadership of the party stands the current President of both party and country, one Thabo Mbeki - Xhosa Nostra crown prince, leader designate by virtue of his last name, who sailed unopposed into the position of vice president first and supreme ruler later after “the family” eliminated by way of their unique methods of persuasion all those candidates whose aspirations interfered with the path towards the throne of The Anointed One. The sad irony in his case is that he himself may be implicated in the same incidence of corruption and bribery he cited as motivation two years ago when he dismissed his deputy, the very Zuma of Zululand I just spoke of.
This is not the first time, however, that the party is threatened by lack of integrity or weird behavior in her leadership. Hell, in her history of strangeness her very founder succumbed to it and almost destroyed her in the process. Much like Mbeki, Pixley Ka Izaka Seme, in spite of his brilliance and vision and the sheer willpower with which he established the party, was also a man who “believed in his mind only, and therefore could not listen to the advices of other men”.
But her tale of eccentricities and ironies may no longer be funny, because the mother who gave birth to our freedom is dying, dying from the self interest and bigotry, the lethargy and lack of commitment of some of her children who disregard their precious sibling named Freedom. She cannot afford for the others to be silent any more, or accommodating of the indolence of their brothers, or to tolerate their presumptuousness and their arrogance any longer. She is sick to the point of dying.
But there is also an alternative perspective on the demise of our dame: maybe, like every aged mother, she is designated to die to make way for the coming generations. Or maybe she even has a choice.
Perhaps it is to be the final act of love of the brave old mother of freedom and democracy to sacrifice herself for the prevention of decay and the advancement of that which she gave us. Maybe she realised that her existence now supports an unhealthy application of the power she represents which will not serve to alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable and the disenfranchised, the very ones she was meant to deliver from hopelessness. And she may know that her very existence will cause either the prolonged deferment of relief for the miserable because of the excesses of a new elite who occupies her belly or erupt in an unstoppable anger of the masses that will explode into anarchy and destruction. Or perhaps even both.
Maybe she knew long before us that the only way to establish truly accountable governance in the long run will be to divide the balance of power in such a way that the threat of being replaced at the next election always stares the ruling party of the day right in the face.
Maybe she knew long before us that the only way to establish truly accountable governance in the long run will be to divide the balance of power in such a way that the threat of being replaced at the next election always stares the ruling party of the day right in the face.
And for that to happen unity must die, she must die.
Krokodil
Krokodil
4 comments:
I was wondering..why did you take the pseudonym KROKODIL when you are exposing the flaws of politics in S. Africa?
Krokodil means crocodile..is that right?
Crocodile in Filipino is buwaya it symbolizes corrupt officials. They even have a commercial for these.
It has no such meaning here. It signifies nothing specific culturally for me, but it is a nickname I took during participation in an Afrikaans language forum. "Krokodil kou aan" literally means "crocodile chews on" referring to me chewing on various subjects of concern to me
i see. now I understand. thank you for the information.
Well..thanks for commenting on my blogcatalog page and I hope you won't be gone that long..again ^_^
Can't wait to read the next post..thanks!
Post a Comment