Three daemons of the ANC

JOHANNESBURG - Politics within the ruling alliance sometimes resembles three drunkards wrestling each other on the edge of cliff. It is difficult not only to discern where they are going, but also whom to cheer.

One moment one faction will be pulling us away from the abyss, and the next dragging us towards it. For instance, COSATU will, on one day, express its determination to make South Africa socialist. On another, it will help rescue Eskom (and the economy more generally) from the racial lunacy of the ANCYL and Black Management Forum.

How then can one make sense of it all? One way of seeing current ANC politics is as a contest between the three daemons of greed (or self interest), ideology and rationality. These daemons are present in all the different factions of the ruling alliance, though their relative strength seems to wax and wane in each.

The direction of the contest between them should perhaps be judged by whether the common good is being advanced. As Aristotle wrote the true forms of government are those "which have a regard to the common interest" while "those which regard only the interest of the rulers are all defective and perverted forms." (This distinction applied whether it was the one, the few or the many who governed.)

In the latter period of Mbeki-era a defective form of government had certainly begun to take root. Our rulers used their power to advance their own interests - through the looting of the state through jobs-for-pals, tender-rigging and BEE. The dominant ideology of that era was African nationalism. Whatever its initial aspirations, it ended up justifying plunder, denialism and the squandering of precious human capital through racial exclusion.

The consequences for the common interest were hidden, for a long time, by a windfall from the commodities boom. The successes of that administration, which were not insubstantial, rested upon the rational decision making of the treasury and revenue service. But what brought Mbeki and his cohorts down politically was his refusal to face up to certain hard realities and adapt to them soon enough.

The new ANC is much less centralised and coherent than it was under Mbeki. It sometimes appears to be a collection of factions and personalities with not all that much in common.

Each different grouping would, I suppose, be tempted to govern in its own interest alone - if they could get away with it. The Africanist tendency, rooted in the interests of an aspirant black middle class, would like things to continue as they were - whatever the consequences for the rest of us - which is why Jacob Maroga became their poster child.

Fortunately, their narrow interests and ideology have been checked, to some degree, by those of other factions. But while COSATU has been outspoken over the corruption and cronyism that took root under Mbeki it is not itself invulnerable to the daemon of self-interest. It appears determined to use its newfound power to have labour broking banned; something which would be in its own interests, but almost no-one else's.

Were COSATU and the SACP to become too powerful, and the constraints on them sufficiently weak, their ideological daemon might tempt them into chasing after their more utopian fantasies.

For the moment the daemon of rationality might be stronger than it initially appears. Had it not been for Jacob Zuma's mishandling of the Eskom leadership crisis, and the loud squawking of the Youth League, the narrative of the last few weeks would have been of a growing realism on the part of the new government.

Certain policies, once regarded as sacrosanct by the ANC, have been quietly strangled. The A400M contract has been ditched, OBE dropped, AIDS dissidence denounced, and cadre deployment condemned. The NHI also seems to have been shelved, for the moment. And Trevor Manuel remains in his job.

As Anthony Butler has observed, certain realities "are closing in rapidly on a liberation movement that has found it hard to modernise its ideas and energise its political and organisational systems."

The problem is that it is ANC ideology which got the country into this mess. As such it is not clear whether the new leadership, however good their intentions, know what path to follow to get us out of it.

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Yardstick for African Politics Instead of emulating Cuba - why not try BOTSWANA example of governance. They are an oasis of sanity in a maelstrom of insane greed & dictatorships. I look on in envy. by old, female, on November 18 2009, 06:20 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Great comment old, female But Bots has no ocean. :-( by donovan on November 18 2009, 07:11 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

If what you say,you mean why hide? This space should be used to debate SA issues fairly. Why hide your idenitity if you are patrotic in your views? Just asking?No one has 100% solution to SA problems. If you think, you got it bring forth and let us debate. If your views do not win, that is . .more how democracy works.Please understand. Of course those who wants to dominate or those who voted Nats all these years, think of no other solution except apartheid. . .less by Vusi Hlatshwayo on November 18 2009, 07:19 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

A good article, but I do not agree that it was ANC ideology which got us into this mess, but rather the perversion of ANC ideology by Thabo Mbeki which was the cause. In my view, the greatest catastrophe, next to Apartheid, visited on this country, was the Mbeki . .more presidency which, in spite of our wonderful constitution, had much in common with Apartheid's excesses. . .less by flebus on November 18 2009, 07:31 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Daemon?? What is a daemon?? by Bemused on November 18 2009, 08:26 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

SA Politics vs Botswana Politics There can be no comparison between the two countries politically 'cos Botswana has only one tribe whereas SA has more than one. Just one other case is Japan after it was bombed during the 2nd WW, both these countries are not as diverse as SA is but they . .more are singular tribe/culture if thats the correct term. With us in SA everyone wants to feed their self before they feed the nation. The best thing to do is "Get your own corner cleaned first" then help your neighbour to clean theirs and so on. Then maybe we can try and equate ourselves with Botswana politically. . .less by Thami Msomi on November 18 2009, 08:32 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

According to wikipedia, this is what the ancient Greek Cyprian said about Daemons "They are impure and wandering spirits, who, after having been steeped in earthly vices, have departed from their celestial vigour by the contagion of earth, and do not cease, when ruined themselves, to seek the ruin of others; and when degraded . .more themselves, to infuse into others the error of their own degradation. " Sounds like the ANC ... . .less by Sad Days on November 18 2009, 09:06 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Butler's ideology The dynamism of any system is internally generated by the unity and struggle of opposites within it. Hence the ANC is demonstrably a healthy system. Butler thinks otherwise, or pretends to. Myburgh is very astute to have directly gone . .more to the heart of Butler's article, even if he wishes to agree with Butler that (external) "realities are closing in rapidly". Butler's would be a neo-liberal world of "TINA" (i.e. "there is no alternative" and no free-willing democracy). This is an unsavory ideological position pretending to be the opposite of an ideological position. . .less by Domza on November 18 2009, 09:08 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Dud Ideologies Get the basics right. Forget about all these dud ideologies that disappeared with the dark ages and just get on with running the country. "Ideologies" seem to be the order of the day while rampant corruption and gross mismanagement destroy this country. . .more Regardless of who is to blame and who does what, what we are seeing is bad history just repeating itself blow by blow. We can only sit with our hands tied and watch. . .less by Airwolf on November 18 2009, 09:36 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Tokolosh Besides leaving behind the beginnings of a wasteland, the wicked Tokolosh should be prosecuted for crimes against the humanity. by Injala Apera on November 18 2009, 09:37 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

@Domza Nothing wrong with your first sentence. Then you F*****D it up by making reference to the ANC. Dynamism in the South African context is based on racism, corruption, crime, nepotism etc etc all because people like you will vote on race only for . .more ever and ever amen! . .less by J on November 18 2009, 09:45 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

@Vusi and ANC supporters... To misquote Voltaire: If apartheid had not existed it would have been necessary for the ANC to invent it.. by JMB on November 18 2009, 10:28 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Execellent comment! Thanks for an exellent and very lucid analysis, James. by Voelvry on November 18 2009, 11:25 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

J You are right. The point is not the ANC as such, but only the idea that change comes from outside. Some people allegedly think that if a meteorite had not dropped on the earth, then the dinosaurs would still be ruling here. They don't stop to ask . .more where the dinosaurs came from in the first place, or how many species of dinosaur had already arisen and gone extinct long before the meteor fell, if there ever was such a meteor. People like Butler want us think that history is made in some metropolis, elsewhere. Sod them. . .less by Domza on November 18 2009, 11:39 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Wrong again eh? Dear James, I think you have got it wrong - it was the 4 [FOUR] Horsemen of the Apocalypse [No! Not that movie in Vietnam by wazisname starring fatso Brando?] by selcool on November 18 2009, 11:42 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

RSA No other country in Africa had apartheid. Yet not a single country in Africa can be said to be successfully governed by Africa's Indiginous ppeole. S O W E T O So where to Now by In Hind Sight on November 18 2009, 11:43 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

@In Hind Sight No, but almost all African countries experienced Colonialism. And you know, colonialism caused the following to happen to Africa: Loss of creativity (e.g. inventions, architecture, written language), loss of work ethic, loss of values, loss of . .more morals, loss intelligence. It causes denialism, unaccountability, famine, wars, raping of babies, corruption, murders, robbery and burning of schools. . .less by AP on November 18 2009, 13:46 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Makhalanjalo It is so interesting to read what all these 'SELF STYLED ANC EXPERTS" say its wrong about the ANC but what is the alternative. Are we supposed to go back to yes baas, nee baas, my father is a communist baas, my mother is no good baas etc, etc. You lot are . .more so boring and predictable . .less by Themba on November 18 2009, 14:01 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

@Themba Wat the hell are you talking about? yes baas , nee baas. ? Do I see correctly that you are able to write a comment on this forum, yet you believe that the alternative DA means cruel Afrikaans White Nazi style Apartheid attitude will come back. The . .more people who believed that black people were not allowed in their churches because of Cain and Abel story??? Their lies have got to you. Check it out,the DA received 1.7% of the vote in1994, that was before Mbeki ruined it all. Pity we had an alcoholic stepping into Madeba's shoes. Read Helen Zille wiki. I f only all South Africans would be allowed to pull together for the good of the country and all its people . Charity begins at home with the South Africans of all races. I'm sorry to say but we can't afford the non skilled - 8-10 Million foreigners here either. . .less by didi on November 18 2009, 15:00 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

ANC EVERYWHERE! Come up with new ideas Mr Myburgh. At least can you do ANALYSIS on the politics of DA & FF . But I dont blame you because without the ANC there is no political vibrancy. by Mduduzi on November 18 2009, 15:09 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Has Jacob got the guts? Communism - is a proven failed ideology so why does the ANC waste it's time with communists? It does not work and if Jacob feels the communist palookas driving around in BMW's that cost millions then he is stupid. Just ask those who lived in Berlin Jacob. . .more BEE - is a racist corrupt divisive bankcrupt policy. Utterly destructive. Deployment - is an ANC policy designed to protect the inept and promotes failure corruption and African style performance which can be clearly seen by the failures, too many to list but notably Home-Affairs, Manto, Mbeki, Malema, Crime, Murders, Corruption, Justice a la Shaik Yengeni Zuma ... So are you brave enough to change the way the ANC does things and go the performance route which will scare the daylights out of all those people in Government who are absolutely useless but are protected because they are black and vote ANC? Tax companies instead of BEE racist nonsense and give a percentage of the mines to black people- a one off. I do not think black people can get their heads around this yet so i think not but hope to be proved wrong. . .less by Dev Klerk on November 18 2009, 16:15 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Political Vibrancy very much alive! Since President Zuma ascendency to the presidency of the African National Congress and to that of being the President of the country, a debate on matters has been very open and vibrant. This vibrancy has never been experienced by this country, even . .more during the apartheid era. I think James' analysis has been limited and narrow in terms of understanding and embracing such vibrancy in this country. He should have noted that the alliance partners are organisations in their right and are guided by their political agenda and beliefs. In a democratic country like that is so allowed. It is unfortunate that apartheid mentality is still very much alive in other white political writers' minds in this country. Yes it is 15 years into a democratic SA, please free your minds and allow the democratic socialism to prevail. . .less by Somkhanda on November 18 2009, 16:32 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Tripartite Alliance and vibrancy There is a difference between "vibrancy" and internal fighting. Did the electorate vote for the ANC or for the Tripartite Alliance. I don't recall the Alliance being on the ballot sheet, so why are COSATU and the SACP having anymore say in government . .more than the Blue Bulls rugby team? To have a workable alliance, you have to have something positive in common. All the Tripartite Alliance have in common is a hatred for colonialism and white people in general. Not even God can change the past. Communism has been an abject failure wherever it has been tried, and Cosatu have only a relatively narrow support base of lowly paid workers. It is in the interest of Cosatu only to protect this support base at the expense of the rest of the SA populace. . .less by Jeff on November 18 2009, 18:20 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

THREE DAEMONS iNCOMPETENT . I* 67 BLACK AVERAGE . RACISTS by cHUCKY on November 18 2009, 21:26 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Facts The problem with any debate in South Africa is that everything ends up in racism. Fact: there is more black racist in SA than white. Do the maths. This would propably been seen as a racist comment. Fact: corruption is wrong does not matter what . .more colour. Let us start addressing the issues that is breaking down this country and get the leaders to be accountable. By blaming apartheid, or the ANC, we have not improved anybodies lives. It is in the paste and people present behaviour cannot be justified because of the past. Why have a debate if it is not constructive. . .less by JS on November 19 2009, 06:54 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

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