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When Baleka Mbete said ‘sorry’

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Lawrence Mduduzi Ndlovu is a Soweto-born Catholic cleric, lecturer, writer, poet and speaker, and arts enthusiast. He has written for Spotlight Africa, Daily Maverick, The Thinker, The Huffington Post, News24, The Southern Cross and The South African. He is a lecturer in the theology department at St Augustine College of South Africa. He is chairperson of the Choral Music Archive NPC, a trustee of the St Augustine Education Foundation Trust and an advisory council member of the Southern Cross Weekly. He was listed by the Mail & Guardian in the South African Top 200 Young South Africans list 2016. He is also the recipient of the 2016 Youth Trailblazer Award from the Gauteng provincial government.

When Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete apologised for calling Julius Malema a cockroach, she created a subtle but profound shift in our political landscape.

During the aftershock of the State of the Nation fiasco, something unfamiliar occurred: the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, said: “I apologise unconditionally.”

It is most unusual, in recent history, for a politician to apologise. It was so strange to the South African landscape that even those who are tasked with providing commentary on socio-political life were left lost for words. If anything, there was suspicion that Mbete was pressured by party leadership to apologise.

The lack of animosity in this simple act leaves one pondering the value of apologies in the country’s political landscape. A new face emerged: one that suggested that even though politicians play tough games, they too are human. And this applies to both the giver and receiver of the apology. Just as humanity is restored to the person who apologises, it is restored to the recipient of the apology. For the politician, too, squirms when his humanity is reduced as he is referred to as a cockroach.

This new face – the face that could apologise – introduced to the country the idea that at times, with the benefit of hindsight, it is worthwhile when politicians know when they have erred. And even more so when they know when it is time to apologise.

When someone apologises, it reveals their willingness to acknowledge that they made an error of judgement that caused someone else to be compromised in some way. It is a return to the human condition, which desires harmony in relation to others. In the case of the Speaker, Mbete, her apology acknowledges that to name the EFF’s Commander-in-Chief Julius Malema a cockroach – that most unwanted, unsightly domestic insect – is to reduce his humanity. And to reduce a person’s humanity is to deny their dignity and to warrant their treatment as non-humans.

Taken to its most extreme conclusion, to dehumanise someone in this way is to even deny that they deserve the virtue of being alive – let alone the dignity of being members of Parliament. It is to imply that they should be dealt with the way all cockroaches are dealt with. Let us not forget that the dehumanisation of people throughout history has been the motivation for some of the world’s greatest injustices. It was the denial of the humanity and ability to reason of black people that justified racism, slavery and other forms of savagery against blacks. It was the very word ‘cockroach’ that was bandied about during the Rwandan genocide. And Adolf Hitler himself referred to Jews as Untermenschen – which translates roughly to ‘the sub-human’.

Now, this is not to suggest that Mbete intended to imply that Malema or anyone in the EFF deserved to be killed. But the dehumanisation of a person is a very dangerous game, especially in public life or when one assumes a role of political responsibility.

This does not mean that one cannot voice dissatisfaction about the conduct of the other, but it does mean that one should never be the inspiration for the denial of another’s humanity. Because even if Ms Mbete meant no harm, her words could inspire a person who does mean harm – and that person could take it as an opportunity to act.

It is, however, of interest that although the Speaker has apologised unreservedly, her apology has been received with some suspicion. Here, it is worth bearing in mind what it must take for a politician to apologise. It cannot be easy, in the highly competitive political arena, to concede publicly that the other is right. To acknowledge that the opposition was wronged in any way does not even feature in the minds of many a politician across the world. Although we can be certain that Mbete does not think the EFF is correct on all fronts, there is something to be said for her acknowledgement of their hurt at their leader being called a cockroach.

This apology, it is important to remember, has nothing to do with politics so much as it has to do with principles: the virtues and values of humanity. This is not to say that politics has no principles; but rather to make clear the distinction that some things ultimately boil down to the relationships between people.

At one sitting of Parliament, the Speaker – while addressing Floyd Shivambu – commented that Shivambu should (and I paraphrase loosely) not forget how his parents raised him; meaning that he should remain faithful to the values of respect and good manners. I would like to believe that this belief underpinned Mbete’s apology in the end.

If one is to accept this, one then also accepts that, conflicts aside, South Africa still has a concept of the difference between right and wrong; and some concept of remorse – something that has been sorely lacking in political quarters to date. When a politician displays remorse and respect for the other in public, it sheds some light, one would hope, on the values they hold dear in their lives, rather than allowing their views and actions to go unchecked – where they would simply become amplified.

Ms Mbete’s apology is not entirely flawless, however: while unconditional, it is still a three-tier apology to South Africans, to Parliament and to Malema. In this way, appeals to the compartmentalised manner in which South African politics function, which typically allows politicians to separate their party interests from the interests of the country – as well as the interests of communities and individuals. How refreshing it would be if there were firstly an acknowledgement that the people of South Africa, who have been repeatedly wronged, are owed an apology by their politicians.

When there is over-spending in the president’s private residence, it is the people who carry the cost, and it is the people who are wronged. It is the people who are owed an apology first. When electricity fails, it is the people who deserve a clear and unreserved apology.

Certainly, an apology is not the same as a remedy. But it would indicate that, at the very least, the citizens are respected; that they are a priority. And that the politicians understand to whom they are answerable. How wonderful it would be if politicians simply apologised for their failures – to the citizens – instead of engaging in the usual mud-slinging.

In this way, Mbete’s apology opens the door to a new kind of behaviour, where one hopes politicking might – even if only for a moment – give way to decency.

Parliament is a microcosm of the nation; and the Constitution, far from being simply a set of principles and parameters, is alive: adherence to it means adherence to the people. It carries the writings of what is active in the hearts of the nation.

The Speaker, as in the case of any politician, is not perfect, and perhaps I am over-spiritualising. But she has, at least, opened a small window to a world of apologies. A world where acknowledging error is the first act. If this kind of behaviour could enter the public sphere, it would mean that politicians would operate from the basis of humanity, and thus their goal will be to transform society for the better. Now that would be refreshing. DM  

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