First published  by Daily Maverick 168

In military terms, MK was arguably a failure. But large numbers of courageous young people fled apartheid to join “the people’s army” and it was a very important symbol of resistance for the millions who remained at home. As we all know, MK was sheltered in the Front Line States, and many members of MK married into local communities.

It is desperately sad that the name of an army of resistance, an army sheltered in other African states, an army that was allied to progressive deals is now being used to legitimate a collapse into authoritarianism, public thuggery and despicable forms of chauvinism. It is just as sad that the name of an army that once stood for freedom is now being used to support Jacob Zuma, a notorious kleptocrat who wreaked havoc on our country, setting its progress back by decades.

The word from people on the streets is quite clear in terms of what is actually going on in Durban.

There is an ethnic aspect to the support for Zuma, and there have been some unsuccessful attempts to arouse ethnic sentiments against migrants and Indians. But with the pro-Zuma forces rallying behind Ace Magashule, and backed by a range of shady non-Zulu characters such as Carl Niehaus and Andile Mngxitama, it would be more than a little silly to say that what is going on is a purely ethnic phenomenon.

The heart of the matter is that a predatory political class with no access to capital outside its relation to the state, and no professional qualifications, has been displaced from its access to accumulating wealth via the state. For this class, which is multi-ethnic and multi-racial, the alternative to kleptocracy is irrelevance, and for some poverty.

The forces that once backed Zuma, and now hope that Magashule will return them to influence and power, have no coherent ideological project.

There is no real political project beyond restoring their access to the wealth that can be diverted from the state. However, to restore their capacity to loot from the state they need to win control of the ANC.

Winning control of the ANC is mostly a matter of buying votes and controlling the bureaucracy that sets up and regulates branches but some sort of ideological cover is also required to legitimate kleptocratic elites. Magashule is a master of the dark arts of branch manipulation but with money drying up, and President Cyril Ramaphosa being a very rich man with very rich friends, the kleptocrats have lost some of their capacity to buy votes. As a result it is now urgently necessary to drive an ideological project.

The Radical Economic Transformation (RET) line was always ridiculous. Allowing a politically connected elite to loot the state can only do serious damage to society and to the majority of its citizens. But it had some success until massive popular anger at the wholesale looting of funding allocated to the Covid crisis resulted in a decisive turn against corruption.

The new strategy, following the right-wing demagogues elsewhere in the world, is to try to rally nationalist sentiment behind an attempt to blame migrants for a deep and worsening social crisis. If the kleptocrats can follow the likes of Donald Trump and persuade the public that they are the ones who truly care about the “people”, and are willing to stand up to their “enemies”, they hope to be able to emulate the initial electoral success of Trump.

These are dangerous times. People of principle need to take clear positions against an open, deliberate and violent attempt to corrode democracy from below. DM168

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper which is available for free to Pick ‘n Pay Smartshoppers at these Pick ‘n Pay stores.