Sometimes when I listen to the cacophony that is South Africa’s body politic, I imagine: what if Trevor Ngwane was Minister of Local Government? What if Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was living with HIV and head of a NGO that has discovered a promising cure for Aids called the Acquired Induced Denialist Syrup, and Zackie Achmat had taken over as health minister to face malaria sufferers who confront him with aggression deserved only by the mosquito that bit them?
Imagine if activist intellectuals Dale McKinley and Patrick Bond were Ministers in the Presidency in charge of Wisdom, Ideological Purity and Permanent Revolution. What if Trevor Manuel finally joined the World Bank and gave way to the new Minister of Finance Neva Makgetla, currently economic policy chief of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu)?
What if President Thabo Mbeki left the position that offers him the comfort and luxury of labelling those engaging the state as “ultra-left”? What if Blade Nzimande, after failing to master the art of influencing the inner workings of the African National Congress, finally took over as president?
In this topsy-turvy world, government spin doctor Joel Netshitenzhe is now editor of an opposition-friendly newspaper and the Government Communication and Information System’s new CEO is social movement activist Ashwin Desai, who also heads the socialist implementation research unit. Radical educationist Salim Vally is now Minister of Education and schooling is free and compulsory to all those who belong to social movements.
Reverend Stanley Mogoba is Minister of Police, ready to chop off the limbs of all criminals. He’s putting through an amendment to the Constitution drafted by the liberal softies of the ANC. Thami ka Plaaitjie is Minister of Land Redistribution seeking land to redistribute without civil action by those relying on the property clause. Bishop Njongonkulu Ndungane is head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) investigating those in the ANC who betrayed the revolution, including denying the masses free access to anti-retroviral drugs. Ndaweni Mahlangu, in view of his commitment to keeping the truth and politicians as far apart as possible, is the natural choice as TRC co-chairperson.
What if all of us swapped roles and found ourselves in the boots of those we have made a career out of rebuking? Would we make different choices from those now in power? Would this South Africa of my imagining be a better country?
Better still, what if those with political power were to bear the brunt of the slow pace of delivery? What if angry pensioners intercepted the salaries of Eastern Cape bureaucrats for some months? What if the new single-issue activists whose hold over socialist dogma resembles that of religious fundamentalists, finally assumed the task of governance?
As we celebrate Freedom Day we need to reflect on the victories of South Africa over apartheid and on the choices we’ve made since 1994.
But more seriously, we need to learn from the tragic lapses of political judgement since then. It is time to ask ourselves many painful questions about the political and policy deficits of our transition.
The government of the new South Africa is based on a democratic Constitution that reflects the universal principles of human rights. Various state organs embody these principles. The legislative processes derive from elected representatives of various political parties. The challenge, however, is to ensure that the struggle was not about attaining political power for its own sake.
This power must be used to pursue the broader objectives of socio-economic transformation, and the transformation of all the instruments of state power for that objective.
The presidencies of Nelson Mandela and Mbeki have been critical epochs of the past nine years. They both have given certain strengths to the liberation project, yet both have made political errors.
The Mandela presidency ensured stability after a volatile settlement. South Africa basked in world acclaim and a sense of unity prevailed. But Mandela’s presidency was more concerned with reconciliation and assuring minorities than with transforming and transferring power. Some say that this was the presidency during which bending over backwards almost became the core ideological path for transformation.
Mbeki rose to prominence not because of his popularity, but largely because of his insight into how the ANC operates and makes decisions. He staged a “bloodless yet decisive coup” as deputy president, preparing for his own powerful presidency.
The Mbeki presidency does not enjoy much adulation, but it is focused on the ideological fundamentals of the new order: a market economy, black empowerment and poverty alleviation — though not eradication. It also emphasises that reconciliation is impossible unless it is accompanied by the socio-economic emancipation of the oppressed.
This presidency has its own political lapses. It tends to express derision for those who do not share its view of the world, in effect leading a society in which people do not put themselves into others’ boots.
It is a presidency of undoubted intellectual clarity, yet cursed with the inability to rise above insignificant differences. It is a presidency that also needs to learn to put itself in others’ shoes before it insults or assaults. Either way, it is a presidency that can hold its own on the world intellectual stage. This is despite the damage done to Mbeki’s image by the Aids imbroglio.
But Mbeki and the ANC must learn to grapple with the implications of the democracy and the economy that it has created. At times the ruling party can be overly sensitive and defensive about the cacophony that is often our democracy.
While the majority of South Africans live in a better country than they did a decade ago, the new order has also seen a rise in ostentation, conspicuous consumption and the emergence of new elites. The lifestyles of these elites sometimes mean they live beyond their means and finance their personal budget deficits through corruption. This element also undermines the gains that have been made since 1994.
The challenge for South Africa and those genuinely engaged in transformation is to eliminate many of the hindrances and boulders strewn along the way to poverty eradication, economic emancipation and the fight against white privilege. This must find expression in our employment practices, intelligence operations and policy implementation.
As we approach the end of the first decade of democracy, we may have to accept that South Africa is no exception to the rule that human development has never proceeded in a straight line, that we will never all agree with each other, but that sometimes, just sometimes, we should try to put on other pairs of shoes.
In politics, as is the case in life, it is not sufficient to be correct. There is a need for us to realise that politics is seldom about choices between good and bad, but often an art of selecting between equally legitimate positions, between equally illegitimate paths, and more often between equally untested paths.
Wherever we stand, we must think beyond our comfortable intellectual worlds, without fear of engaging with different positions and without labelling those who hold them.
Muzi Sikhakhane is a Johannesburg-based advocate and political analyst