Helen Zille, The ANC, And Some Rules of Politics
A key rule in understanding politics is to take with a grain of salt when one party tries to define, contextualize, predict, or provide historical context for another. Another key rule is to make sure that other parties are not in a position to define yours.
I thought of (read: made up) these iron-clad rules when I read two articles in which Democratic Alliance leader and Cape Town mayor Helen Zille made two pronouncements about the African National Congress. the first of these was that the ANC is going the way of the National Party, with its divisions between verligte and verkrampte, or enlightened and reactionary members. Beyond the offensiveness of comparing the ANC to the party against which it fought for so long, the analogy seems shallow, forced, and ahistorical, a silly and patronizing attempt to provide analysis and prescription for a party that it is in Helen Zille’s very real interest to see not succeed in the first place.
Zille’s second assertion is no less self-serving than the first, though it may be somewhat more accurate. In the DA’s online newsletter Zille argued in a piece putatively honoring Nelson Mandela that Mandela’s “legacy is being undermined by powerful elements in the ruling party.” Zille’s tribute to Mandela was undoubtedly sincere — the DA has been a vocal advocate of erecting a statue in honor of Mandela at parliament and plans to reopen debate about doing so again. But it also takes a certain level of hubris for the opposition leader to presume to speak in the name of a man who is still alive, who is still a member of the ANC, and who led that organization through its years in the wilderness.
Zille is not alone in her belief that the current ANC has forsaken some of the high ground it possessed a decade ago. But inapt historical analogies and purporting to speak for Mandela’s legacy strikes me as the sort of “consider the source” argumentation that somewhat invalidates much of what she has to say. Nonetheless the ANC has enough of an image problem in the country that her words probably resonate with a sizable minority within the country. For if there is a third rule of politics that I would like to make up here, it is that a party that is unable to define itself will be defined by others. The solons in the ANC’s various factions would be wise to pay heed to this rule more than any other.
August 14th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I hear and vividly understand the point made on this particular entry. eventhough i hear you raising crucial issues regarding south african politics mainly the ruling party.I acknowledge and respect the fact that you one of the few people who are not scared of bringing matters to the fore of the public.I would like to agree with you on the point you raised regarding the split within the ANC,indeed the ruling party is not showing comradeship among it’s members especially the so called “top executives” .these are the people who fought long and hard agaist apartheid but after all the triumph they got they loose focus over their jobs and roles that they have to play in the society. the whole thing of being “pro Mbeki and pro Zuma” is a total political downfall for the ANC and the rest of the country.one more thing i would like to encourage from our leaders in this country is that they must create room for us young people to express our political ideologies and power to nourish the future,because we are the future and we need guidance and way forward from our beloved leaders like you. “VIVA YOUTH IN POLITICS VIVA”