Mbeki's cold, passionless closet fans

The day Thabo Mbeki resigned as the president of the republic, following his recalling by the ANC executive, I was fortunate enough to catch the his farewell speech live on national television in a pub somewhere around Sunninghill. The whole pub actually had to come to a total quietness, listening to the speech. There was a very bleak mood in the pub. After that speech, the crowd clapped hands, but showed a lot of disappointment on their faces. Immediately after the speech we all gave eulogies about Mbeki, almost as if it had just been announced that he has passed away. I thought to myself 'Wow! So I am not the only Mbeki fan after all'. It felt good to be around like-minded people.

I later went outside to have a cigarette and met a very pretty young lady who was also a Mbeki groupie. The young lady was quite emotional about the recalling from the highest office in the country of the man she dearly loved . She asked me if I had read Mbeki's 'I am an African' speech (or is it a poem?). I said 'No'. She asked if she could recite the speech to me and I said 'Of course'. Sadly, her emotions took the better of her after reciting the third paragraph or so and she burst into tears. I consoled her, held back my own tears, hugged her and thought 'what nice perfume'. It was such a somber moment we shared that I even forgot to ask her for her telephone numbers.

I have written before on this blog about how at the Shikota convention is Sandton, the 4000 or so delegates delayed the proceedings by bursting into songs in support of Mbeki. So it can safely be said that Mbeki fans could fill a at least ten mini-bus taxis and a 100 seater hall at any given time.

So why is it then that when Mbeki approached the constitutional court to appeal against the Nicholson judgment there were no night vigils outside the court? In fact there were no absolutely no demonstrations or singing outside the court! Does this say something about the fan base maintained by the man professor Pierre de Vos describes as 'strange, lonely, stoic and self-important'? The old cliche 'When days are dark, friends are few' only seems to apply to former president Mbeki and not to ANC leader Jacob Zuma? Is this cowardliness or just plain double standards?

If Mbeki and Zuma were soccer teams, it seems the Mbeki fans would be the kind who would rather watch the match at home over drinks, while their Zuma counterparts would pick up their vuvuzelas and go to the stadium. I have decided to break ranks with this couch-potato supporter mentality so I will be taking to the Supreme Court of appeal in Bloemfontein on November 28. I have used my company's resources to print posters that shall be held high with pride on the day. They shall read as follows:

1. I AM AN AFRICAN
2. Mbeki Son of OR Tambo, father of NEPAD
3. Thabo did nothing wrong!
4. 100% Sussex Boy
5. We miss you Thabo Mbeki, where are you? (Remember that song by Chicco)
6. Thabo, History will absolve you
7. MBEKI IS OUR RENAISSANCE MAN

I hope to be joined by the crowd from the pub in Sunninghill and other Mbeki fanatics. I am also hoping fate will reunite me with the young lady I met outside that pub.

Until then, will the real Thabo Mbeki fans please stand up?

Solidarity.

Gearing up for celebrity politics

What I have found quite refreshing about the Shikota movement, the new breakaway party from the ANC whose name was still not announced to the South African public at the time of writing is how they have promised to woo high-profile celebrities to join the party. Mbhazima Shilowa was kind enough to give heads up that we should prepare ourselves for more current ANC MPs and celebrities to join the breakaway party in the coming few weeks. It is a modern party after all.

One of the first celebrities to show support for the Shikota party is Hlomla Dandala. I actually saw him at the Shikota convention in Sandton. Hlomla's claim to fame goes back a couple of years ago when he played Derek Nyathi on Isidingo, an SABC 3 TV soapie I used used to enjoy about ten years ago when I still watched TV. To many of us who do not know Hlomla personally, I suspect the image that most of us have of him (myself included) is that of a successful sharp, well-to-do level-headed, and progressive black man who possesses a formidable aesthetic appeal to both black and white women.

Another high-ranking socialite who has recently thrown his weight behind the new party is Mfundi Vundla. He is the executive producer for another South African soapie that goes by the title Generations. The soapie boasts the record of being the longest running badly scripted TV show that continues to survive whilst using unskilled actors. Generations has a very huge following, for reasons I am unable to explain.I have been ridiculed so many times at drinking sessions for saying I suspect the show was sponsored by the office of the presidency (in Mbeki's days) as a systematic effort to lower the cumulative IQ of the nation.

I am finding the whole celebrity addition to politics thing very interesting and I am wondering which other high-profile celebrities will join the Shikota movement. I am also wondering if other political parties will respond by also bringing in other celebrities to their fold. Would it not be interesting to find out which celebrities would be willing to hold hands in public with Julius Malema for example? Also interesting would be to see which political party would claim Steve Hofmeyr, the ANC, FF+, DA, or UDM?. What about the scandal-ridden Khanyi Mbau or the illusive Vernon Koekemoer? Rebecca Malope for the ACDP?

Would the moral standing of a party be symbolized by the caliber of celebrities that publicly support them? Parties would probably want for distance themselves from tabloid headlines such as "Herchelle Gibbs pop-drunk at ANC gig".

If our political parties go the celebrity route, how much influence will these celebrities have in terms of attracting the electorate to a party? Time has all the answers.

Solidarity

A new era in South African politics?

I made my way to Sandton Convention Centre on Saturday to attend the South African National Convention. We arrived in Sandton at around 12.00, and getting access was a bit of a problem as you needed to have registered a few days in advance so I missed the first part. I decided to go to lunch with the guys I was with so we decided to hang-out at one of the restaurants on Nelson Mandela Square (ain't it ironic) since there were no visible boerewors stands outside.

At around 1 o'clock there was a break and some of delegates came to the restaurant where we were hanging out, I asked them how it was inside, how the mood was like etc.. Their feeling was that positive and exitement. They applauded the speeches that were earlier made by Terror and Shilowa. They also informed me that other political parties which were invited were in full support of the convention. I also learned that Helen Zille had likened the convention to the formation of the UDF in the 80s.

After lunch we made our way back to the convention center for the second session and as luck would have it, we met a delegate who was old enough to be our mom and asked her if she would be able to let us in. She alluded to the fact that it would be difficult but she said we could tag along, we got to the entrance and it was no biggie, she told them were her children and viola... we were granted access and were very proud to be part of a potentially historic moment in South African politics.

The convention was chaired by Charlotte Lobe, and shortly after our arrival inside the auditorium, Andile Mazwai spoke, representing business. Another young lady whose name I forgot also spoke represnting the youth. The young lady gave a brilliant speech where she raised issues around the importance of education to the youth, issues of HIV/AIDS, respect for the elderly etc... Many delegates could not stop clapping and kept on shouting out the name 'Julius Malema'. A former ANC MP who recently resigned whose name I also unfortunately forgot spoke, representing women. There was also a representative of the disabled who also gave a speech. Then the most controversial and surprising representative on behalf of civil society: Mlungise Hlongwane.

Hlongane also gave a fairly good speech where he highlighted the importance of civil society and said that SANCO was fully behind the convention. I was quite surprised and I am sure that he might get a boot from SANCO pretty soon. After Hlongane, heads of all the provincial delegations gave speeches obviously also in support of the convention. I was impressed by the bravery on the guy who was the head of the Kwazulu-Natal provincial delegation. I left just after the speeches of provincial delegations.

The central themes of the convention to me was:

1. Respect for the rule of law and the constitution.
2. To hell with the Malema and Zwelinzima Vavi rhetoric.
3. Do away with corruption, fight crime, etc.
4. Electoral reform, i.e. people should be able to elect their mayors all the way up to their own president.
5. The emphasis on the importance of intellectualism in the politics.
6. Political tolerance
   

All in all, I think the convention was a success. The attendance was way better than expected. I think the new party will be a hot material for the black middle class and those unhappy with the current ANC leadership and those who believe that the ANC's majority needs to be reduced but cannot bring themselves to vote for the DA for historical reasons. I also think it will attract many young people who have recently been interested in current affairs and/or politics based on what has been happening in the political scene for the last couple of months. It still remains to be seen how the new party will change the political landscape but it is certainly gaining momentum.

Oh, one last thing which I wonder if was covered by the media: After every speech, the delegates would burst into song for about a minute or so before the chairwoman would interrupt them so that the proceedings could continue timeously. During the second session, someone sang a song with lyrics "Thabo uyenzenjani", i.e. "What did Thabo Mbeki do?" The crowd went crazy! People sang their hearts out with emotion. Charlotte Lobe could not contain the crowds and the song went on for just over ten minutes. I also climbed on a chair and sang! What I found symbolic about that though is that there is still a general discontent over the removal of Mbeki from office a few months before he could complete his term.

A very interesting period in South African politics.

Solidarity.

No word on party policy

After Jacob Zuma's victory when he took over the reigns of the ANC after the December 2007 ANC conference in Polokwane, I remember how a few weeks after that conference, many of us who were sceptical of the charming Zulu traditionalist and uncomfortable with his ways kept on asking the question: "What are his policies?" The rhetorical question still prevails today in the minds of those who are still in denial that JZ is headed for the presidency.

Last week, on national television when Zuma was afforded an hour on the state-owned broadcaster, I listened to a better media-trained Zuma (barring the through-clearing) mumble to a question that I initially thought was simple, i.e. How the ANC planned to eradicate poverty. At that point I asked myself, what I knew of the current official ANC's policy on poverty eradication, crime, social security etc. I discovered to myself that I actually did not know.

Hellen Zille was given her hour or less on Radio 702 last week as well, and when she was asked to respond to archbishop Desmond Tutu's position on why he had said that he was so disillusioned with the current ANC that he would not cast his ballot in the forthcoming elections, Ms Zille pointed to the fact that if the archbishop had read the policies of the Democratic Alliance, the archbishop would most likely vote for the DA. Ms Zille also took the honors to insinuate that the archbishop probably would not vote for the DA since it is a white party, hence the archbishop could have taken the decision not to vote at all instead of going for the alternative to the ANC.

I have been asking a few of my friends if we should be on the forefront of the youth wing for the new Terror Lekota/Mbhazima Shilowa party since we all believe we are more capable than Julius Malema. The standard response: "It depends on what their policies are". At that point I would ask my friends, "What do you know of the ANC/DA/UDM policies on crime, poverty, unemployment etc..?". I would then give my subjects five minutes to formulate their responses. Six out of seven of the subjects of my survey could not answer the question to my satisfaction, or even their own satisfaction.

The moral of my story and the conclusion of my survey: I do not think South Africans vote for a particular party based on its policies, so perhaps there is some credibility to Ms Zille's response to the apathetic archbishop. I also think the current criticisms that we have of our government are more based on issues of service delivery than affect us personally, rather than what the written policies of the ANC could be. So I think we are more concerned about the implementation rather than the brain-text behind it.

I think for the next while, for historical reasons, South African's will still continue to vote based on sentiment than principle, unlike in the US for an example where a significant section of the electorate would swing their vote for their presidential candidate based on the specific details of how he plans to improve the health care system, cut taxes etc...

What I have been asking myself and my friends is why the sudden obsession on party policy if we do not know that much about the policies of our political parties, let alone that of the ruling party.

Solidarity.

An epitaph for John Matshikiza

"There is fire here,
Which no prison
Can kill in this man"*

* From his own poem And I watch it in Mandela

Solidarity.

Visible Policing

Solidarity.

Dear Helen, Please shut up now!

In her weekly rantings (otherwise known as SAToday - A weekly letter from the leader 08/02), Helen Zille's logic escapes me.

1. She ponders on tabling "a motion of no confidence in the President and Cabinet."
2. She immideately therafter confirms that "this would simply allow Jacob Zuma to replace Thabo Mbeki as the President of South Africa" - Fair enough, she followed the Pokokwane conference on TV like all of us.
3. She later goes on to say that: "Judging by the poor calibre and dubious backgrounds of senior members of the newly appointed ANC NEC (from which the Cabinet is traditionally drawn), such a motion would entail replacing a failed regime with one that will take our country further backwards."
4. She concludes by saying: "The Democratic Alliance will next week table a motion in Parliament to dissolve the National Assembly in order for a fresh election to be held."

Am I missing something here? South Africa really needs a real opposition to circumvent the ANC from taking the country to the dogs. The DA is far from an alternative government.

Solidarity.

Penada