It’s up to each one of us to keep Mandela alive!

In December South Africa and indeed the world received the news of the death of the father of our nation, Nelson Mandela with shock. I doubt that there will be a similar outpouring of emotion for another international figure in our lifetime as there was for Mandela. There is not much that I can say, that hasn’t already been said, about this historic man which changed the course of South Africa’s history by negotiating a new political order in South Africa with the power of peace, understanding and peaceful negotiations. This doesn’t make it easy for us to accept that this great man no longer shares the air we breathe. However, it is up to each one of us to emulate what he did and keep his legacy alive. This is tested most when we are in difficult situations where reaching a middle ground is difficult to reach. Mandela himself didn’t get it right the first time right. In negotiations leading up to the formation of the democratic South Africa, talks between his team and the government at the time collapsed a number of times. Codesa (Convention for a Democratic South Africa), the multi-party forum that was negotiating how a new government would look like collapsed in 1992. In that same year Codesa II was started and it too collapsed. Mandela refused to give up despite many in his team wanting to rather take up arms and look at alternative means of negotiations. Mandela understood the importance of patience and timing. He was proven right when another attempt at negotiations, the Multiparty Negotiating Forum finally ratified an interim constitution in 1993 which formed the bases of the 1994 elections and indeed our democracy today. Mandela saw the entire marathon and its finish line and didn’t focus on the hurdles that were in the way; in fact they seemed to make him even more determined. This is a powerful lesson that we can all use and implement in all aspects of our lives. Thank you Madiba for this lesson you have given us. Your memory is as alive as ever.

In an open democracy all have a right to political expression

Earlier this month, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, Helen Zille announced that on 4 February 2014 she will lead six thousand DA supporters in a march to ANC headquarters, Luthuli House in Johannesburg. Zille explained in her announcement that each DA supporter that was marching would represent 1000 unemployed South Africans who will benefit from the 6 million real jobs that the DA will create if it is elected to national government. This march will expose the ANC’s manifesto which promises 6 million “work opportunities” as a hoax as they are not real jobs. Indeed they are temporary public works “piece meal” jobs that will do nothing to grow our economy and lift people out of poverty and thus reduce poverty in general. To make it worse, this is not the first time that President Zuma has tried to mislead South Africa when it comes to the perception of job creation. In 2009 when he was elected as President, he promised that his government would create 5 million new jobs. In reality, since then 1.4 million more jobs have actually been lost! Sadly, any economic advancement made by the Mandela and Mbeki administrations had been destroyed by the Zuma administration. The ANC’s reaction to the news of the DA march was most concerning. The ANC, through their spokesman, Jackson Mthembu described this perfectly legitimate and peaceful political demonstration as “extreme provocation to the ANC”. In his statement Mthembu referred to the DA march in May 2012 to Cosatu House in Braamfontein. A number of people were injured and one person even died due to injuries incurred as a result of attacks by members of Cosatu at that march. The ANC said that a political party marching to another’s headquarters is a “recipe for disaster”. It is clear that the ANC does not like anyone, particular another political party, to publicly challenge it. It simply acts as a big bully. The ANC Youth League backed up the ANC by unashamedly calling for violent action against DA members. This is clear incitement of violence. We are seeing more and more political intolerance and this is most concerning, particularly for a country with one of the most progressive constitutions in the world! The incitement from the ANC and their Youth League cannot go unchallenged! As a result, DA Gauteng Leader, John Moodey has laid charges with the SAPS. If our democracy is to grow and flourish then there must be space for legal, legitimate and peaceful political activities. From the DA’s side it gave a guarantee that the march will be peaceful. From the ANC’s side it has made it clear that it won’t make such a guarantee. It is clear that the ANC no longer cares about our democracy and protecting it. It is only concerned with those in the inner circle of the ANC. Everyone else, like you and I, are simply irrelevant.