As the sun set in Johannesburg on a recent Monday night, under the bright lights of the suitably hip Atlas Studios, more than 200 sharply dressed youths turned out to watch their political leaders present their cases. The question they all had come to consider: Are they ready to govern?
The answer? Maybe. But what was immediately evident was that the next generation wasn’t prepared to take what was being served up from their leaders without some seriously fiery comment.
The crowd outright booed a suggestion that Bantu education could be better than what’s on offer today, clapped thunderously, then continuously heckled Cope’s national spokesperson Sipho Nghona and sniggered when Freedom Front leader Cornelius Janse van Rensburg presented his case for the formerly advantaged.
They spit back in anger when moderator Judge Dennis Davis posed the borderline blasphemous question: When might South Africa elect a white president?
The man in the brown shirt who had slapped the panellists’ table as he passed by way of greeting his comrade, the Young Communist League’s Buti Manamela, nearly jumped from his white plastic seat.
“Not now!” he shouted, then immediately changed his mind for a more accurate figure. “Three thousand years!” His date, the girl with perfectly coiffed hair and teetering black stilettos, one-upped him. “Fifty thousand years!” she jeered.
The panellists took their turns amid Davis’s not-so-gentle prodding and the crowd’s vocal responses.
The DA’s Khume Ramulifho spoke about education, nepotism and creating opportunities for youth. Janse van Rensburg talked about the economic downturn and the unfairness of BEE, while Nghona addressed nasty politics and the importance of putting patriotism before colour. The ANC Youth League’s Floyd Shivambu said we need to nation-build and decolonise our territories. Manamela talked of national unity and nation building.
When Judge Davis suggested to Manamela the creation of a black bourgeoisie that allows, say, some leaders of certain parties to drive BMWs, the communist shot back: “Owning a BMW is in no way indicative of class!” he said. “Criminals in Soweto own BMWs and they are not part of the bourgeoisie.”
Indeed.
There were snide comments from the panellists — Shivambu saying about Cope: “Let them have their little meetings” — as well as the ongoing barrage from the audience.
When the Cope youth leader posed the question of who was really the clear leader that came out of Polokwane, the audience booed.
“Jacob Zuma!” they insisted.
And when Nghona mentioned that BEE and affirmative action might have had some unintended consequences, Buti’s comrade sniggered from the second row. “Yeah, you.”
In the remaining minutes, meant to allow the crowd their opportunity to ask questions, they jumped at the chance to grab the microphone.
What programmes are you providing that address the degeneration of moral fibre? How do you get involved in youth programmes? How are you making sure the people have access to good education? How are you addressing affirmative action? Why are there two people from the same political organisation on this panel? Where is Mda? And, finally, the man at the back of the room in the pressed white slacks and button-up shirt told the organisers they should let the youth have the floor much longer.
“We do not just have questions,” said the man in white. “We have also have answers!”
The youth have spoken.
Forum for thought
Thought you knew what the thinkers were thinking? Well think again.
The Mail & Guardian‘s Critical Thinking Forums have been notorious places of discussion since they began in 2005, bringing together key politicians, top academics, public intellectuals and corporate mavericks for some of the greatest South African democratic debates of our era.
This year’s agenda will be no different.
On the calendar for 2009 the Forum will deliberate about the country’s economic policies in the middle of a global meltdown and an all-new budget, discuss the state of our Constitution and take a serious look at poverty and development in the new new South Africa.
The next Forum, hosted by the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa) and Absa, will put top politicos in the hot seat to discuss the February 6 presidential address. Bantu Holomisa, Patricia de Lille, Tony Leon, Phillip Dexter and Mnyamazele Booi will join the discussion panel at the Castle of Good Hope on February 10.
For reservations to join the thinkers on the next debate, or to find out more information on future forums, email Sudley Adams on [email protected]. — TP