South Africa is pretty much a one-party state, complete with most one-party state problems such as rampant corruption. Contrary to what Helen Zille might have us believe, the best thing for South Africa isn’t the Democratic Alliance, but a much weaker and, therefore, concessionary African National Congress. Cosatu, please hurry up and form a separate political party?
I asked two weeks ago where all the good men in positions of national leadership were. (Yes, yes, I know. I’m not one to spoil a good paraphrase for the sake of political correctness). Where are the people who are in it for the good of the country, and not for what they can get out of it for themselves or their parties? Where are those who have the vision to act on what will benefit us all in the long run and not on narrow individual or personal interests? Not in the DA, it seems.
I’ve always had my doubts about the DA. That party has always struck me as being a boiling cauldron of right-wingers too sophisticated for the Freedom Front, left-over Nats too smart for Orania and those jilted types who voted for Mandela out of sheer relief that the Night of the Long Knives was postponed indefinitely. Let’s not forget the thoroughly decent Democratic Party chaps. They are perhaps the redeeming feature of the DA.
DA leader Helen Zille is not unlike the ANC politicians she enjoys maligning so much – at the end of the day, she’s about what’s good for the DA.
A good example is how she handled the Chancellor House–Hitachi business. Gwede Mantashe aside, there was no dispute that the ANC’s stake in a company building a power station was heinously immoral. Yet Zille tackled the issue by claiming that the ANC would benefit from electricity price hikes. That was another ludicrously cheap victory handed to Mantashe on a golden platter. His satisfaction was almost palpable as he pompously asked how the company contracted to build the power station would benefit from a price hike. He has a point, too. Your electrician doesn’t directly benefit from what Eskom charges you for electricity.
What alternatives did Zille offer in that case, aside from “vote for us, because we wouldn’t do such a thing”?
If I had my way, she would be made to shut up and concentrate on running Western Cape. If she can convince me that her particular brand of “buttered-scones-and-cream” politics can work, I’ll rethink my stance when elections come around again. I don’t need her to tell me that the government is largely corrupt. I don’t need her to be my political conscience. The DA is an opposition party. They are Plan B to the ANC’s Plan A. That’s it!
The truth is, the DA punch far above their weight, and I just don’t see them, at least in their current form, presenting a serious bid for national power.
The real “opposition” party in South Africa is the trade union federation and tripartite alliance partner, Cosatu. Mantashe himself recently conceded that they play the role, among others, of pulling the alliance to the left should the ANC drift too far to the right. The problem is that the ANC is only too happy to ignore the other partners in the alliance when it suits them to do so. We’ve had the usual flapping of arms and grinding of teeth of late by Cosatu because the ANC “done it again”.
Zwelinzima Vavi and his deputies have been complaining bitterly over the fact that the Polokwane agreements have not been met. They’ve tried to get the issue of lifestyle audits going. Vavi even produced that now-legendary “if it’s true, then God help us all” soundbite over the ANC’s stake in Hitachi, all to no avail. To paraphrase Stephen Grootes, how long before Cosatu takes a long, hard look at its membership size and decides to go it alone?
Cosatu forming a political party and contesting elections on their own terms would be the best thing that happened to South Africa since 1994. For one thing this would severely cripple the ruling party. It’d still win the national elections, but by a barely satisfactory majority. The only way it could continue to maintain its current hold on local politics would be in coalition with Cosatu. And for another, Cosatu would drift left, taking with it the left-leaning socialists. The ANC would invariably drift to the right. As coalition partner, as opposed to tripartite ally, Cosatu would have more power to ram its ideas through, forcing concessions and moderation from the party of tenderpreneurs.
Most importantly, a weak ANC would be forced to clean its house. A weak ANC wouldn’t be able to afford expensive mistakes like Juju. A weak ANC would be lean and mean, focused on delivering to constituencies.
For this reason, I’m begging Vavi and his lieutenants to do the right thing. Bid the tripartite alliance goodbye and run as a separate political entity. For the sake of the country.
I think you've missed and yet illustrated the point - the DA lacks credibility with black voters. Perhaps that's the first third of the issue.
The second would be the loyalty of the "liberation vote" to the ANC. Many appear to vote for the ANC because of history.
The third would be the apathy of disillustioned voters. Those who have lost faith in politics.
I'm all for the split of the alliance - it should help keep our corrupt politicians more honest. Your specific highlights - a pull to the left by Cosatu and shift to the right by the ANC might have debatable results.
If we are going to address the 3 issues above, we need strong, credible black leaders outside the ANC. That seems to be the key to real change.
A good name would be the Democratic Alliance Alliance or DAA for short.
This is also written tongue in cheek and I trust you will also have as good a laugh at my words as I had at yours.
Hit - a split in the alliance will do our democracy a world of good and should be encouraged.
Miss - do not discount administrative capabality in a functioning democracy in terms of service delivery. In SA's context you'll find that capability at the DA, but given the points Marc makes, that reality remains a pipedream.
A DA / Cosatu alliance will be interesting, but yet another pipedream - imagine an alliance with the capacity to deliver on their promises?
I would like to know what those clever "yellow commies" (quote malema) are scheming behind the scenes in these trying times.
The only reason for the DA not attracting more votes from the traditional ANC alliance voters is the fact that their voters are told that they will be harmed should the DA gain to much ground in traditional ANC strong holds.
Now before every one attempts broad sides at this fact let me tell you that the DA, ward 104 branch, manned eight voting station in the Du Noon/Doornbach area during last years elections. The ANC voters told us that they are under threat.
The DA has an enormous support base amongst ANC alliance voters and we invite you to become a member and attend a congress to witness this with your own eyes. Our country will only normalise when all of us stop slapping labels on our fellow South Africans.
Some very good points, and it is clear to many that the ANC appears to be benefiting more from the alliance than COSATU, BUT on the other hand, there is also a view that membership of the alliance has allowed COSATU to have a much greater voice (if not influence on policy-making) within the alliance than would be the case if they contested the elections as a separate political party.
Let's run the numbers / do the math(s):
Just under 12 million voters.
COSATU membership estimated at between 1.4 and 1.7 million (COSATU will not divulge exact membership - one wonders why not!) - possibly lower now as the recession has ravaged their numbers.
Even if every COSATU member voted and they all voted for COSATU (unlikely), they would be looking at under 12% of the vote - less than the DA by some margin.
Of course it is possible that they could draw some electoral support from the unemployed, youth, aged etc.
Do not think for one second that COSATU leadership has not done these calculations in far finer detail!
COSATU would only go it alone if they became convinced that they would fare better outside the alliance than within.
I imagine that the alliance would need to shed support to the extent that the ANC garnered less than 60% of the vote before COSATU would reach that conclusion.
Secondly, Peter did the number but left out two crucial factors: the fact that Cosatu's 12% would come directly from the ANC support base; and Cosatu's recent shift to embrace the unemployed - a significant constituency that seems to feel completely ignored by the ANC.
Is their proof positive that Patricia de Lille's is more proactive than the entire DA? The DA's Helen Zille has delivered on many fronts not the least of which is the fact that she has grown the DA exponentially since she was voted in as the head honcho. Can Patricia de Lille claim growth because of her leadership style?
The fact is that the ID is bleeding at the seams and are faced with mass exodus during next years municipal elections. The potential new alliance now being discussed will possibly produce a political partnership that will address the need for a "real opposition's". Birth pains are sure to follow but I, for one, am optimistic that Helen Zille will again pull the proverbial bunny out of the hat.
The ANC on the other hand now know tthat hey are in a fight for voters. In the area, where I work for the DA, of Du Noon/Doornbach both the DA and Cope have been making inroads. Currently the ANC are rudderless as their elected ward councillor seems to have been suspended. They are not saying and he has been missing in action for five weeks now.
Which is not to say I'm an ID supporter; far from it. I merely use that as an example of what opposition politicians SHOULD be doing: keep the government honest by constantly exposing shenanigans.
But getting back to Sipho's point: if Cosatu broke away from the ANC before the next election they would certainly get my vote. The DA in its current form never will.
You say that the DA SHOULD be doing what Patricia does but earlier you said "It is and always has been a reactionary party, milking the mistakes of the governing party, whoever they be, for all they're worth" Is this not what Patricia does as well.
Your vote is yours and you may cast it for whom you please. Tell me how the DA must evolve to meet your standards and if your ideas have merit I will take them Helen for you.
Sorry, people - I quoted numbers from a previous election - the recent numbers illustrate the point even more.
The COSATU membership numbers of between 1.4 mil and 1.7 mill are correct (Source - IDASA)
The number who voted in the 2009 election was 17 mill, out of 23 mill registered (source: IEC) (hmm - 23 mill registered voters out of a population of ???47 mill - either we have 24 million kids under the age of `18, or there are a lot of unregistered people out there - illegals, immigrants etc)
So Cosatu membership equals roughly 10% of the voting population.
@Brian - you may well be correct that the vast majority / virtually all of COSATU members voted ANC, but although this seems intuitively correct, it may possibly not be so. IN UK, whenever a Conservative government gets into power, it means that a huge number of working class and Union members must have voted for them.
A similar situation exists in US with the Democrats and Republicans.
A long shot far fetched but not impossible scanario is that COSATU joints the "opposition" coalition - COPE, ID, IFP and DA and forms a coalition government in 2013.
The policies of these different parties are not as different as one may think.
Sipho, set this up, mate and you will have my vote!
Helen Zille is nothing like the ANC politicians she fights against daily, and I think you know it. "Vote for us because we wouldn't do such a thing" in a corrupt country IS an alternative. We know you're "uncomfortable" with a whitish opposition, but really, don't take us all for idiots.
In your haste to rubbish the DA with the usual vague reservations expressed by blacks when confounded by the resilience of this party of whites (let's be honest, if not to us then to yourself if possible), you've missed Zille's point, which is: that electricity hikes paid by the people are funding the building of power stations by Hitachi, which WILL benefit the ANC through Chancellor House.
But I'm not surprised - the whole tone reeks of that particular discomfort black South African intellectuals have when having to deal with the DA. It's easier to be scornful and claim they are not "a real opposition" and "have no clear alternatives" than confront your own prejudice and racial chauvinism, or is just your fretting ego?
Stephen
Well said but I am convinced Sipho wrote this tongue in cheek just to get everyone going. Surely nobody who is a serious intellectual would write such drivel?
Unfortunately it's just complacent anti-white bias masquerading as comment. We whites are so used to hanging our heads in reflex shame we don't even recognize it. Take for example, "buttered scones and cream" politics - what else can it mean but "too white".
We let blacks say it to us out of guilt, as if it may be true. But we are free and can be anything we want. Sipho "doesn't need Zille to be his political conscience". What he means is she already is in some way, and he doesn't want that. Why? Because she's white. Why else would he say it. And whites and blacks everywhere accept it because this form of subtle racial slander is acceptable in the new South Africa. It eases tensions, it allows blacks to get rid of the bogey of apartheid, and keeps whites in their (comfortable?)guilt, which is easier than facing things, both ourselves, and the self serving arrogance out there. But if you let others disrespect you they'll continue to do so. That's what apartheid was about.
If you don't agree with me change "buttered scones" to "sangoma's flywhisk" style of politics and wait for the self righteous outcry, and charges of racism. The undercurrent is we have to justify our position in this land, we have to "play ball", be patriotic Africans etc, but we don't have to, really we don't.
Sipho might be a great guy and all this may be unconscious on his part, but every black journalist I know agrees the DA has good ideas, is more or less honest, and works hard, but then shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot. After 4 decades of being blamed for all that is wrong in this land I for one am not going to let them get away with it.
It is often a thought of mine whether any of them can put forward one iota of evidence that they have even attempted to bury their hatred of the whites? Can any one of them show us how they have worked to uplift a poor white?
However, let me say that I do have black friends who will come and help when asked. As we mainly work in the poor areas my black friends are sometimes astounded by what they find away from their comfortable middle suburban homes.
Ah well, it will take time for us to forge this rainbow nation but we can do it provided every one respects every one else as a South African. Labeling people is the surest way of creating division.