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Opinionista

2019 elections: Another chance, billboards and populist rhetoric

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Ompha Tshikhudo Malima is a student, social commentator and former youth leader. His interests are political philosophy, decolonisation, society and culture. He has a passion for collecting recipes and a keen eye for architecture and design. Twitter: @MrOmpha Facebook: OT Malima WordPress: omphilosophical.wordpress.com

The Jacob Zuma regime was a blessing in disguise. It showed us the true colours of so-called revolutionaries. It has shown the dangers of our beautiful Constitution, which gave a president too much discretion, and made a Parliament that is too vulnerable to ruling parties and thus a very fragile state.

South Africa will go to the polls on 8 May for national and provincial legislatures. This is the 6th election in a democratic SA and one of the most heavily contested in the democratic era.

The climate one of identity politics — based on group classification such as race, gender, religion and social strata. While these discourses are imperative to protect and nurture minorities and the marginalised, they have gone rogue.

SA politicians use a divide and conquer approach. They have capitalised on the racial aspect embedded by apartheid. Debates in SA are now predominantly based on uninformed sentiments rather than practicality. Most of the motives are just, but they have been twisted by powerful forces of political opportunism to divide the body politic.

The land question, ownership of the means of the means of production, relative justice (“blacks are targeted more than whites”) and prioritisation of policy. Do they ring a bell? These issues are at the core of the survival of South Africans, but the approach to them a different subject.

The ANC asks to rule, after 25 years in power. It releases policy documents, acknowledges impunity, declares impunity and appeals for another chance. The ANC forgets that government is about efficient and effective service delivery, not about chances which have been wasted. South Africans who vote for the ANC will be asked for another chance in the 2024 elections because the ANC will have messed up — again.

The DA is another shady state of affairs. Head of policy Gwen Ngwenya resigned in an explosive exit letter, alleging that there were deliberate efforts to undermine her. Among other complaints she cited a lack of experienced staff. If the allegations are true she was basically the face of policies dominated by the white male majority in the DA executive. Party leader Mmusi Maimane is articulate and intelligent about the issues of other parties, but not about his own.

Remember the Helen Zille colonialism tweet, Patricia de Lille bullying, the John Steenhuisen qualifications saga and running for, and then stepping back from, the Western Cape premiership? Talk about lack of co-ordination and indecisiveness.

Same as the DA’s policies. It is known for court cases which are warranted at times, but sadly driven by opportunistic bashing of the ANC. Then there are billboards — such as the one containing names of Life Esidimeni victims and dubbed #TheANCisKillingUs. This furore should have started in 2018 during the arbitration hearings led by former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke. But no, the DA waited for campaign time.

That is cheap politicking. There is also the recent billboard on load shedding which reads:

The ANC has killed the lights, affecting 57 million South Africans. Time for us to take their power. Vote DA.” Note the pattern, “The ANC has…” Even in Mmusi Maimane’s statements we often find that cliche.

As bad as the ANC is, it has institutionalised structures for governance within the party, saving implementation for later. The ANC does not bash the DA during elections, but focuses on its manifestos and woos the people through empty promises. At least that is something.

The DA sings about the shortcomings of the ANC. Where is their coherent policy? Gwen Ngwenya’s accusations might not all be true, but a fool could see the lacunas of the DA’s policy. Maimane barely articulates it as leader; there are conflicting statements from the collective leadership. The DA, just like the ANC, sings normal promises like jobs, anti-corruption, reduced crime and more safety and so on. There is no customised package offered.

When it comes to the EFF, one fears the habitual behaviour of its leadership. You cannot mention the EFF without words such as violence, threats, howling and rhetoric. Its leadership has great minds, but the subject of its thinking is another story.

Policies such as nationalisation of all critical companies in mining, aviation, energy and minerals are based on rationality and the exhaustion caused by a greedy capitalist system, granted. The policies might be right, but the issue is the timing. You cannot nationalise things and entrust them to a government, while previous governments have been looting.

Look at the Public Investment Corporation, South African Airways, South African Broadcasting Corporation, Denel, Eskom, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, South African Post Office, South African Social Security Agency et al.

The issue with communists and socialists is their love for words and their allergic reaction to implementation; their appeal is their valour and must be venerated, as it champions rights and equality for all, and a better life for all. Socialism ignores economic incentives and without those, economic production decreases. Investments would also not be there. Who would invest where there are no businesses?

It also infringes on fundamental rights and freedoms as it closes communication, which becomes top-down rather than participatory; people are forced to do certain jobs such as farming just because they are there. It becomes a cycle of subsistence production because there are no external cash injections, but rather the government has the sole onus to cough up money.

Socialism also focuses on development rather than transformation. Until when will we be a developing state? The ideology might be right, but the actions of these demagogues will surpass our imaginations.

The Jacob Zuma regime was a blessing in disguise. It showed us the true colours of so-called revolutionaries. It has shown the dangers of our beautiful Constitution, which gave a president too much discretion, and made a Parliament that is too vulnerable to ruling parties and thus a very fragile state.

We need coalition governments. The African case study has proved that ruling parties are great stumbling blocks that harbour greed. They are not efficient and transparency is an enemy. Here is an argument about Overcoming Greed: The Need for a Balance of PowerDM

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