“If I were JZ I would tell the movement thank you but no thank you when it comes to the presidency of SA. I mean, who would want to take over the mess that has been created by Mbeki and his crowd?”
Of course Jacob Zuma is going to do no such thing, and is leading the ANC’s election campaign for next year. However, he must realise that he will have his hands full when he steps into Mbeki’s role next year. The latest violence in poor communities, this time directed at foreigners, is but another reflection of how the government has failed to address its citizens’ most basic needs.
While there can be no excuses for looting, burning and killing , it is clear that the allocation of basic resources such as housing, electricity and water are riddled with corruption and patronage involving local councillors and other state functionaries. Unless there is radical change in the sphere of local government, poor townships will continue to be places of violent conflict even if there are no foreigners there.
With elections less than a year away, the ruling party needs to take note that communities will continue to revolt against the tardy provision of services and the gross mismanagement of municipalities. Moreover, the consequences of these uprisings have the potential to unravel the social cohesion of our society. The poor, for so long the ANC’s voting fodder, will no longer tolerate excuses and empty promises made by politicians every time they come to plead for votes.
Should the ANC’s new leadership ignore the social crises in our townships, in much the same way as the Mbeki government has done, it will cost not only the ANC but also the country dearly.
As I have said before, the ANC’s problem is not power — the party will no doubt be returned through the ballot when South Africans vote next year. But the true test is the ANC’s continued credibility and legitimacy among the majority. Given SA’s huge developmental challenges, buy-in from communities is not a luxury, it is essential for long-term stability and development.
Party leaders no doubt received a huge wake-up call at the weekend when residents in Gauteng’s townships and informal settlements made it clear that the days of giving the ruling party a blank cheque at the polls are well and truly coming to an end. If you ask me, this couldn’t have come too soon.
“If you are a stumbling block, we are going to kick you away,” was how ANC presidential candidate Zuma was told off at a meeting near Springs when he tried to explain to poor communities that they had to be patient with the government.
The social distance between the people and the ANC — which professes to be a mass organisation — is growing by the day and continues to eat into what remains of the credibility the party enjoys among the majority.
The lacklustre response from communities to pleas for tolerance of foreign Africans by ANC leaders on the basis that other African countries made sacrifices for our freedom is instructive. It shows that the ANC’s reliance on its history alone is slowly lo sing its pulling power among younger people, many of whom are victims of state failure on jobs and education.
Interestingly, this same category has been instrumental in the vicious violence that has left 56 people dead and thousands displaced. Youngsters, some only 16, have been fingered as the culprits behind the deadly attacks. These are the so-called “born frees” who are supposed to be the ones benefiting from the government’s programmes, but are clearly not.
Increasingly, the ANC is having to learn that unless it delivers in concrete terms to the people who vote for it, the party will lose much, if not all, of its standing among those to whom it owes its power. - Business Day - NEWS Worth Knowing
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