The Hashtag ‘Revolution’ and the National Democratic Revolution: Seize The Revolutionary Moment!

In the midst of the current wave of students’ Hashtag ‘Revolution’ demanding zero increment on, or totally scrapping the, university fees in favour of free education, we need to pause and ask fundamental questions about the ANC’s celebrated political theory of National Democratic Revolution. We need to do this so that in the context of the Hashtag ‘Revolution’ we can ultimately ask the question: is the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) ready to seize the revolutionary moment?

Just to state the obvious. The ANC’s NDR has as its ultimate goal the creation of a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, prosperous and united South Africa, whose main practical content is the liberation of black people in general and Africans in particular, from the political and economic bondage. Clearly from this narrative, the NDR has as part of its objectives the economic liberation of blacks in general and Africans in particular.

Accordingly, we should ask the attendant question: given that the demand for free education by the Hashtag ‘Revolution’ is part of the broader struggle for economic liberation, where is the NDR – which is supposedly the dominant revolutionary theory of the ANC in South Africa - to lead and guide the students? Has the NDR become obsolete and decadent in the current conditions of freedom?

To engage with these questions, it is our considered view that the ANC has been caught napping by this very important and radical social awakening by the Hashtag ‘Revolution’. Even as the ANC met during the recent NGC, it failed to read the mood of our restive society. This for instance is particularly buttressed by the conspicuous absence of analysis of major SRC election losses suffered in some tertiary institutions by SASCO - the ANC Ally in the student movement – in the Balance of Forces discussion document. Failure to read the political mood of the very society the ANC claims to lead is, in political terms, a cardinal political blunder.

We say this because such a failure, of necessity, leads to reactionary decisions and actions that can have damaging consequences to the ANC’s standing in society. For example, the sending of a trigger happy and brutal Police Force – instead of sending political leadership – to quell the students’ protest leaves a bitter taste in many mouths and signifies that the NDR is going on a tangent.

Had the ANC discussed in depth these losses by SASCO – particularly at the University of Fort Hare where SASCO lost to DA aligned DASO – the ANC would have seen the indicators that there is dearth of leadership in that space, just as there is dearth of leadership in many critical spheres of society. The challenges in higher education have been long coming and leadership in dealing with these challenges has been by and large absent.

In some, if many, of the higher education institutions, SASCO has been seriously compromised for behaving like spoilt children of the ANC. Instead of being a serious independent student political organization that is in a complimentary and contradictory political alliance with the ANC, SASCO became a vainglorious cheer leader of the ANC. Instead of appreciating students as its core constituency that it must account to, SASCO became accountable to the ANC. Instead of radically championing the interests of its constituency, SASCO engrossed itself into the patronage networks of the ANC.

The result was that ANC patronage took its toll on many branches of SASCO – just like it has done to many components of the Mass Democratic Movement – and weakened it as a strong and radical voice of students. So the ANC is also very much to blame for this parlous state of SASCO because instead of consciously strengthening the independent political role of SASCO to ensure the ANC’s future, the ANC was happy to have a pliable partner that will keep students in check.

Consequently, the influence and guidance of the ANC’s NDR on students was weakened to a point that students fashioned their own independent political and revolutionary theories. The #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall campaigns have crystalized into a Hashtag ‘Revolution’ that has a huge potential to become a dominant force to champion a variety of socio-economic challenges beyond the gates of higher education. Even though these hashtag protests are single-issue based, they have a potential to grow into a fully fledged social revolution.

Further, the influence and guidance of the NDR seems to have waned in society in general. This can be seen by the support the Hashtag ‘Revolution’ has gained from the country and internationally, which is a significant turning point that places the NDR in jeopardy. No one can blame society for this because the NDR has been absent to champion the relentless challenges faced by many communities. People have been itching for a revolutionary moment and they seem to have found it in the Hashtag ‘Revolution’.

History is replete with spontaneous revolutionary moments that have forever changed and revolutionized so many countries across the globe. South Africa seems to be faced with such a spontaneous revolutionary moment draped in the Hashtag ‘Revolution’ regalia. It is an exciting moment that all of us should welcome.

It is therefore our considered view that the Hashtag ‘Revolution’ presents a window of opportunity for the ANC to refine its revolutionary theory in line with the new weapons of struggle if it wants to continue to be relevant. The information age has been upon us for some time now and has shown its strong hand in the mobilization of society to embark on a determined struggle to better their conditions. The ANC needs to fashion its strategy and tactics informed by these new realities of information technology. But above all the ANC must put people at the center of everything it does.

We therefore conclude that in its current form – and if it is not people driven and responsive to new realities – the National Democratic Revolution will not seize this revolutionary moment. The NDR needs to ensure that the new forms of struggle are incorporated into its modus operandi. At least the Hashtag Revolution is not calling for the fall of the ANC. In actual fact it is resoundingly calling for the ANC to seize the moment and provide the much needed leadership. If the ANC fails to realize and seized this moment and respond accordingly, it can be rest assured that the next hashtag line will be #ANCMUSTFALL.

Mzukisi Makatse is the member of the ANC and writes in his personal capacity.