Publication: Sunday Tribune Issued: Date: 2005-11-06 Reporter: Percy Ngonyama Reporter:

People's Man is Not All He Seems

 

Publication 

Sunday Tribune

Date

2005-11-06

Reporter

 Percy Ngonyama

Web Link

www.sundaytribune.co.za

 

While the leadership of the African National Congress continue to deny reports of a split within its ranks, publicly, signs of profound divisions in the ruling party have been difficult to conceal.

Only a fool or a liar would deny there are currently two camps within the ANC and the tripartite alliance - a pro-Zuma and a pro-Mbeki camp.

In early 2005, shortly after the Asian tsunami disaster, when Cosatu General-Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi declared "attempts to stop Jacob Zuma from ascending to the presidency will be like trying to stop a tsunami", very few people paid attention.

Recent national events have shown that Zuma's popularity within the ANC and the tripartite alliance is not to be taken lightly. No other matter, including the ANC's neo-liberal growth, employment and redistribution (Gear), which replaced the RDP as government's blueprint for social development in 1996, with dire consequences, has divided the ANC and its alliance partners as the Zuma issue.

While the Zuma saga has claimed some very high-profile casualties - from Bulelani Ngcuka to Schabir Shaik and recently Billy Masethla - one cannot help but commend or even envy, to some extent, the high level of radicalism and conviction that Zuma supporters have demonstrated.

Analysts argue that Zuma has become a symbol of resistance for all those dissatisfied with Mbeki's Machiavellian leadership style and neo-liberal capitalist economic policies.

During Cosatu's recent campaign against job losses and poverty, support for Zuma was openly expressed by thousands of trade unions members who wore T-shirts with the image of the former deputy president, and defiantly chanted slogans and sang songs denouncing Mbeki.

Messages printed on some of the T-shirts equating support for Zuma to support for the revolution are, in fact, implying that Mbeki does not represent the revolution or the poor, and Zuma does.

Undoubtedly, this kind of defiance - which places a lot of emphasis on the power of the masses - was last seen within ANC structures during the apartheid era.

Recent protests by neglected ANC constituents against slow and poor service delivery have not been as persistent and accompanied by the same level of anger and rage.

People's power was at play at the ANC conference in July, where Mbeki was openly defied and Zuma was reinstated, with full responsibilities, as the ANC's deputy president.

It is because of the power of the masses that the Zuma issue remains a matter for debate and discussion in government and
the ANC.

And Zuma continues to use his popularity among the ANC masses to intimidate Mbeki and his government.

Mass protests within and beyond South Africa ultimately forced the Nationalist Party into talks with the exiled ANC. Within South Africa, the power of the masses, which manifested in consumer boycotts, strikes, bus boycotts, played a huge role in the demise of apartheid.

Internationally, solidarity with the oppressed majority of South Africa ranged from boycotting sporting events involving South African teams and boycotts of multinational companies that propped up the apartheid regime.

Cosatu, SACP, ANC-Youth League, and others in the Zuma camp have revitalised some of the protest methods employed in the 1980s. Indeed, they have also realised the importance of popular mass mobilisation.

It is argued that a Zuma presidency will be leftist and pro-poor in nature. While Zuma may have a down-to-earth demeanour, and seem easily approachable and friendly compared to Mbeki, given Zuma's lavish bourgeois lifestyle and the capitalist nature of some of his close associates, this is highly unlikely.

Furthermore, he continues to endorse the capitalist economic policies of the ANC. In a recent interview with Metro FM's Given Mukari, he endorsed Mbeki's leadership and praised his disastrous economic policies.

On the eve of local government elections, the ANC faces its worst-ever crisis. And this does not emanate from opposition parties, but dissatisfied masses within its ranks.

The ruling party has been reminded in the rudest possible manner of the significance of the power of the masses. Mbeki has been forced to the negotiation table. And for the first time, he seems really committed to finding a genuine solution.

Mass protest is very critical in the context of the ANC's economic policies that have not only failed to improve the lives of the poor, but have also resulted in millions of job losses and exacerbated poverty levels. Mbeki will be compelled to conduct an intensive review of his government's policies.

Cosatu and its allies can rest assured that relentless, massive campaigns against Mbeki's neo-liberalism will receive support from even the most progressive social movements in the country, who continue to warn the government that its economic policies are directly responsible for the appalling socio-economic conditions.

While the Zuma issue is responsible for reviving mass protest within the ANC, the public needs to be warned that a Zuma presidency will not necessarily change their lives for the better. The struggle against neo-liberalism and capitalism is much bigger than any one individual.

Percy Ngonyama
New Germany

With acknowledgements to Percy Ngonyama and the Sunday Tribune.


This author seems somehow to have formed a different view on the performance of the economy than Thabo Mbeki and Trevor Manuel.

Beware statistics - especially when offered by Pali Lehohla, Statistician - General.