Gosh, how fast events have moved in this past two
weeks. At the beginning of last week, a change in the Presidency became
obvious, a day or two later there were several cabinet resignations. By the end
of the week we had a new president, a new, (and I think a better) cabinet,
and life and the markets were settling back to normal, that is, as normal as
any markets can be in this time of global financial turmoil.
The end result for me was that my updates requested by
the newspapers were largely overtaken by events, and this piece was not
published by my main target newspapers.
But that’s life, so there is no use in moaning, a week
in politics can span almost a lifetime so that’s the way it is. News has a very
short shelf life.
Well, at least one or two plusses have emerged from
the political upheavals of these past few days.
Firstly, it has been manifestly been demonstrated
that South Africa under Black majority rule is mature enough in a notoriously
volatile and democracy shy continent to sack its political Head of State and
suffer multiple ministerial resignations without any bullets being fired,
without a violent revolution breaking out and without any blood (other than political)
being shed.
One unhappy surprise was provided by the unexpected behavior
of Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, whose dramatic resignation caused damage to
our currency as also sharp losses on the Stock Exchange, and then an hour later
issued a statement saying that he was willing to accept re-appointment. This
selfish, melodramatic and self centered grand standing behavior has hurt
South Africa.
But make no error, what we have witnessed is nothing
less than a bloodless political "putsch ", which has had the effect
of transferring real power from one faction in the ANC to another, namely the
faction dominated by the Communist Party and Cosatu. the "putsch"has
been engineered by the newly elected National Working Committee of the ANC,
whose members have convinced its 88 member National Executive Committee to
wield the axe of recall. Which raises the question,... Who is in control of
South Africa? Is it the elected Parliament or is it the unelected,
un-accountable and largely anonymous membership of the ANC National Executive?
The answer is obvious. It is the inner circle of the ANC, the SACP and Cosatu,
which take decisions behind closed doors, out of public sight, and it is the
ANC Parliamentarians who puppet like work hard to dance to the tunes dictated
to them. The truth is that the ANC MPs are political robots whose very jobs
depend on their unquestioning obedience. Their servile performance this
past week confirms this.
So, what is new? We truly have short memories. This
scenario is not an innovation in South Africa. Under the Apartheid National
Party government, when the Broederbond or the specially constituted Security
Council passed the word, the supine National Party majority in Parliament
defended it and did its bidding regardless of the merits of the issue.
Brutal leadership change is also not new. It happened
to Vorster, condemned by a highly flawed judicial Inquiry,..... it happened to
P W Botha, whose bitterness at his dismissal lingered for the rest of his life.
It happened to Tony Blair. It will soon happen to Gordon Brown in the UK.
So what do we have? Mbeki, a largely perceived remote
and unpopular President, an AIDS denialist, an anything but honest broker in
Zimbabwe, a leader appointing, accepting and retaining in his
Cabinet ranks and other high offices, key personnel who were and still are
patently incompetent, and some, especially in his Parliamentary ranks, who were
corrupt. On the flip side, he oversaw the bringing of economic stability
to South Africa, and played an important role on the world stage, bringing our
country to the forefront of international affairs.
In the end result few tears will be shed at his
departure. His long heavily guarded aloofness will see to that. What is
disturbing is not the Ministers who have resigned, some of them good, hard
working and competent executives, but rather those who have not. We are still
blighted with Manto Tshabalala Msimang, branded by the press as a thief and a drunk,
one who has hampered the anti HIV/AIDS campaign, Charles Nqakula, and his wife,
the Home Affairs Minister who have made a total mess of their departments,
and under whom efficiency and accountability have been thrown overboard remain
in office.
But to return to the historical scenario, so it was
that a plot which began to form after the dismissal of Jacob Zuma as
Deputy President of South Africa slowly began to take shape. Alliances
were built. Pit Bulls like Vavi, Malema and his crass recently
de-hooded predecessor who belatedly has via initiation
"achieved his manhood", were let loose and given free rein to rubbish
Mbeki's policies and insult the President himself. The plan gathered serious
momentum at Polokwane when old enemies, Matthews Phosa, Tokyo Sexwale, Mac
Maharaj, and perhaps even Cyril Ramaphosa weighed in to bring Mbeki down.
The Nicholson judgement virtually sealed the
President's fate. And for my money Mr Zuma will now in the course of events
probably never see his day in Court, and after the next general election
we will be ruled by a deeply flawed, financially ignorant, legally
suspect President, a prisoner of those who propelled him into power, and
their demands upon him will be far-reaching and hard to resist.
I agree with Opposition leaders who have long called for
the appointment of a judicial Inquiry headed by one or more competent and
respected retired judges to investigate the infamous Arms Deal in all its
aspects and produce a report which will bring closure to this shabby episode in
our public life.
We can expect little from the interim government
other than more of the same, but after the election next year, a hopefully
heavily cut back ANC must at last concentrate with serious and competent intent
on the key issues which continue to blight the lives of most South Africans.
These are.... ...Poverty and job creation,......violent
crime, corruption and the crumbling justice system,......the sagging health
sector,......the failure of delivery at primary and secondary school
levels,.... the continuing "brain drain", and the debilitating loss
of skills.
These are but some of the most critical challenges
facing Mr Zuma and his new executive.
He dare not fail. If he does he will almost certainly
face the same treatment that he and his associates dealt out to Thabo Mbeki.
In the meantime the opposition parties, splintered and
ineffective as they have been, now have time to work for opposition unity and
policy agreements which will pose powerful questions to the ANC, and offer
solutions to the issues which darken our land and our people. The ANC pretend
that they have suffered no damage, but be not fooled. Their precipitate actions
have weakened their stranglehold on the electorate. The coming period before
the next election must not be wasted by the opposition parties.
David Dalling is a former Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Whip ddalling@mweb.co.za
For hundreds of years the aloe plant has been known
for its amazing properties. Today this knowledge has
been harnessed into a range of Wellness and Skin care
products that are created from this "lily of the desert".
The soothing and .....
Featured Article
* = required field