In KwaZulu-Natal, where politics is conducted in hush-hush tones, locals — particularly the old and the uneducated — have invented a street language that says more about politics than do any number of pundits.
Much as people in Nqutu and Nkandla are aware of the political rivalry between the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party, to them the territorial and ideological clashes between the two have become peripheral.
The language they have invented is the language that tells of their struggles for survival.
Here, head of the government Thabo Mbeki is referred to as ”the man who gives us grants [ubaba weqolo]”.
What this exemplifies unequivocally is that the locals have become tired of being used as pawns by politicians. Their needs come first.
The ANC has toppled the IFP in KwaZulu-Natal because, among other campaign themes, it claimed the political value of the child-support grants and increased old-age pension.
This enabled the ANC to woo younger people to vote for it even in areas where polling surveys predicted apathy. Pensioners may have voted for the ANC out of historical loyalty but it is also a question of being swayed by the fact that their children, who are not working and have their own children, don’t rely solely on them for support anymore.
While Mbeki is the man who now puts bread on the table, embattled IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi is known as the ”spectacles man [ubaba wama glass]”.
Those who cannot read or write were taught to memorise the faces of the political leaders they wanted to vote for. Posters therefore played a significant role.
Locals were constantly reminded that the face they should remember when they cast their votes is the one they had always seen down the road. By the time they got to the polls, party emblems had become meaningless.
What they were looking for was either the man with the greying head and moustache (Mbeki) or the bespectacled one (Buthelezi).
No wonder, then, that in certain areas, posters disappeared as soon as they were put up, to ensure that voters wouldn’t be confused by the different parties and their figureheads.
Parochial ethnic sentiments as propounded by the IFP in a bid to rally support failed, and what the party should have done was market concrete strategies for poverty relief.
While the IFP claims vote-rigging, I found, after speaking to people on the ground in these areas, that most believed their social needs would be more likely be met if the province were in the hands of the ANC.
Now it is up to the ruling party to ensure these people benefit from the poverty-relief projects. This is the new challenge facing the ANC in the province — not the threat of violence perceived as likely to engulf the region after the IFP had been dethroned. The ANC is aware of this.
Things have changed since the previous election. The ANC is in control of state security. It will be able to deal with elements that are a threat to peace and stability.
Locals in these areas said that all they need is ”more money for the poor or our children, to enable them to look after their children [Sifuna uhulumeni asegezele ngaphezulu imali yabampofu nabantwana bethu, ukuthi bakwazi ukuzinakekela nabantwana babo].”
They spoke about the creation of opportunities for the ”children to get employment”.
KwaZulu-Natal has a poorly skilled labour force and most of the people around the age of 20 have little or no formal education.
People declare their needs in simple language, saying: ”We don’t care who rules us as long as our children are working and we are able to have something to eat every day [Akusihluphi ukuthi ngubani ophethe okungasijabulisa wukuthi izingane zethu zisebenze nokuthi zidle].”