ST please answer my e-mail On Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 2:25 PM, Sikhumbuzo Thomo < [email protected]> wrote:
> Dear Comrades > > Below I have pasted two very interesting articles that call for a nice > engagement. > > ST > > An activist from afar > > > > > *THE BATTLE FOR THE CARCASS OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS* > > By *Mzukisi Qobo* <http://voices.news24.com/author/mzukisi-qobo/> > > Son of Man, can these bones live? > And I answered: Sovereign Lord, you alone know (Ezekiel 37:3) > But someone may ask: How are the dead raised? > With what kind of body will they come? (1 Corinthians 15:35) > > > > It will require more than a miracle to save the African National Congress > from the haunting spectre of the dead. Its destiny is one-directional: > extinction. The party that once was a colossus has become a pale shadow of > its former self, and without ideological form and vision. With the embers > of life departing from its bones, the ANC is countenancing a gloomy destiny > as a political fossil. > > > > If there is anything that is sustaining the ANC today it is history, > memory and mythology. All that the party seems most adept at is summoning > the ancestral spirit embodied in its 100 year history to justify why we > should continue to put faith in it, and why it is entitled to rule until > the Second Coming of Christ, to use the phrase of its President Jacob Zuma. > This masks the ANC’s poverty of substance both intellectual and moral under > its current crop of leadership. Basking in the glory of remembrance of > times gone by, the ANC fails to gaze beyond the fog of the present and > dream of a different future. > > > > While the ANC’s rhetoric still finds strong resonance with the older > generation, in a country where young people are growing proportion of > society and are increasingly disillusioned with their socio-economic > conditions, such historic sentiments will inevitably cool off. History is > not sufficient to carry the ANC into future glory. It is no guarantee of > continual success. In no time, the ANC will be dispatched into the ash heap > of history, attracting curiosity from historians who are interested in the > rise and fall of liberation movements. > > > > Consider, for example, Zuma’s speech in Mangaung centenary celebrations > early this month. The core of the speech was drowned in historical detail, > giving very little evidence of a leader who is seized with thoughts of > transforming the party and building the nation. While history may help to > remind us of where we come from and warn us of what not to do, it is a poor > handmaiden for animating a new vision and stimulating progress. More like a > rear-view mirror, by its very nature, it cannot provide clarity of > direction. > > > > A different leader would have used such an important occasion to set a > powerful and transformational tone that launches society into a > conversation about the kind of future South Africans should envision and > aspire to. Transformational leaders are forward-looking and use history to > craft a different and exciting narrative about the future. It is not only > that Zuma, the leader, is woefully lacking on this front, it is also that > the ANC has reached a moment of exhaustion on its long journey to defeat > apartheid. The priorities of its leaders today are not the same as those of > their forbears. They are also not the same as those of society. > > > > The current leadership of the ANC seems unable to use history lessons > correctly; it fails to connect the best of the ANC’s core values that > helped to sustain its anti-apartheid struggles, and the imperative of > creating a new spirit and reference point for change that is not just > inspired by the past but also draws on the best from both the present and > the future possibilities. > > > > The place of ideological self-renewal and vision that used to mark the > ANC’s character in the past has been supplanted by debilitating factional > battles, plots, and lust for state resources. State power is no longer seen > as a viable tool to enact a different agenda for transformation, but a > short-cut to self-enrichment for party cadres and cronies through tenders > and placements in government positions or diplomatic posts abroad. Its > leaders are hell bent on making South Africa an object of ridicule in the > world. > > > > We no longer have a battle for the soul of the ANC aimed at defining its > essence, vision, and programme; but a battle for the carcass of the ANC – > about who should be the chief undertaker to preside over its eventual > burial. It is not far-fetched, therefore, to conclude that the real ANC is > dead, and what exists today is its mummified version – an ancestor – > propped up through invocation of history, selective memory, symbols and > myths to mask its impotence and anachronism. As the British Marxist > historian Eric Hobsbawm warns us in his work On History: ‘History as > inspiration and ideology has a built-in tendency to become self-justifying > myth. Nothing is a more dangerous blindfold than this…’ > > > > Those who hope the ANC will change – as well as the best of its minds that > still remain within – suffer from delusion. They are not only legitimising > an evidently chaotic party, but they are also giving false hope of its > possible renewal. They are betraying the future. > > > > It is possible to draw a line between the ANC of old that waged a > remarkable battle against oppression; that inspired anti-colonial struggles > in the African continent; that boasted incorruptible and noble leaders; and > that triumphed over the apartheid regime and brought democracy on the one > hand, and the decadent ANC of Jacob Zuma that has spawned > maladministration, corruption, and a profound sense of despair in the > nation. > > > > The tale of the two ANC’s and their different revolutions –one noble and > the other perverse – brings to life the reflections of Edmund Burke on the > monstrous progeny of the French Revolution, which he penned in his Letters > on a Regicide Peace: ‘’out of the tomb of the murdered monarchy in France > has arisen a vast, tremendous, unformed spectre, in a far more terrific > guise than any which ever yet have overpowered the imagination, and subdued > the fortitude of man. Going straight forward to its end, unappaled by > peril, unchecked by remorse, despising all common maxims and all common > means, that hideous phantom overpowered those who could not believe it was > possible she could at all exist.’ > > > > Perhaps, these bones can still live, but in the terrifying shape of a > monstrosity that threatens to devour the best that history has bequeathed > us, and decimate the future yet to be born. > > > > * Dr Qobo is a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Sciences at > the University of Pretoria, a Political Risk Analyst and a member of the > Midrand Group. A version of this article was first published in the Sowetan > newspaper. > > (Visited 6 times) > > > > > > > ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ > > > > I read Dr Qobo’s article with great interest because he was sold to us as > an academic, a political scientist and as a thinker. I re-read his article > again and again hoping to find some trace of the scientist, academic or > serious thinker. Instead what I came away with is a slew of exaggerations, > innuendos, the usual fare of our Sunday newspapers and the standard > insulting generalisations about the ANC leadership being corrupt and > money-grubbing. > > > > The delightful thing about wild generalisations is that they are > self-affirming. The accuser need not point at anyone. Like the anti-Semite > who says all Jews are corrupt, he does not have to demonstrate that Samuel > Shapiro is corrupt, or that Hyman Levy is corrupt, or that Isaac Lieberman > is corrupt. No! As Jews they are by definition corrupt. > > > > So too Dr Qobo. He need not tell us who in the ANC leadership is corrupt, > nor does he have to prove that charge against Kgalema Motlhanthe, or Baleka > Mbete, or Joel Netshithenzhe, Mantasshe or Jeff Radebe. Hell no!! They > are by definition corrupt, as ANC leaders! > > > > Why does he not have the courage to name the corrupt?? After all if it’s > all so obvious we should all quickly agree with him. The answer to that is > simple. Short on analysis our political scientist/ academic has recourse to > urban legend. Anyone with a smattering of political savvy knows that urban > legends are usually a tissue of lies, wrapped around a threadbare narrative > about one or two people, but used to smear thousands. So now the dishonesty > of a few known, tried and convicted individuals is used to smear everyone > in the ANC. Clever for a Joseph Goebels; but disappointing for a political > scientist > > > > Are these the methods of an academic who hopes to be taken seriously?? But > this is what is passed on to the unsuspecting public is serious scientific > analysis!! Reallly??!!?? > > > > Are there differences amongst ANC members? Are there arguments among ANC > members? Are there disputes over political office in the ANC? > > Of cause there are!! And, had our academic, political scientist bothered > to investigate, he would have discovered that these are as old as the ANC > itself!! What is more, as a political scientist we expect that Dr Qobo has > noticed such disputation in other political parties worldwide as well!! > > > > Take the current primaries among the US’s Republican party. There are now > five candidates, all swear blind they are good Republicans, but they each > have different agendas to address the US’s problems. Each of them too wants > political office and the plums that go with it!! > > > > But our serious academic finds this somehow deviant among ANC leaders?? > Why???!!?? No explanation! > > > > Reading De Qobo one has a sense of déjà vu. I keep telling myself – I have > read all this before! Why does this sound so much like “Rooi Rus” Swanepoel > during the late 1960s? Or the nimble-footed journalists who wrote during > the early 1970s? Or the madly-in-love with BC commentators of the late > 1970s? > > > > They all have one thing in common. An animus against the ANC, which they > neither know nor understand; a South African public they neither know nor > understand; and no experience of serious political struggle, which they > neither know nor understand! > > > > Firstly, the ANC was born at least 25 years before the term > “apartheid”was even coined! At least 36 years before it became state > policy! To a serious academic that implies that the ANC was waging a > struggle against something more than apartheid! “Apartheid” after all is > but one form of a system of racial domination. That it turned out to be > the final incarnation of that system is another question. The ANC waged > struggle for freedom against White domination, and it called that a system > of Colonialism of a Special Type(CST). And, one finds that it is that > fundamental incomprehension of the system that we were fighting to > overthrow that confuses so many commentators. Far too many seem to think it > was merely a system of racial segregation writ large! Yet, if they > understood that it was a system on internal colonialism, they might do > better. > > > > As the colonising power is still resident and shares the territory with > us, unlike classic colonialism, where the colonising power left, ours are > right here contesting the shape of our future using the resources they had > accumulated at our expense. In the process they sow doubt, disillusion, > despair and despondency. > > > > Secondly, during its history the fortunes of the ANC have ebbed and > flowed. To a serious academic that should come as no surprise. There are > times when the movement is at its best. There are others when it is at its > worst. Such is life and politics. Those who imagine politics as five or > four year cycles between elections are quick to write off political > formations they either don’t like or that they fear. But those who know > that politics is for the long haul will be a bit more patient and cautious. > > > > When Biko and the BCM were on everyone’s lips, many wrote the ANC off as > a movement led by “old men” ;”out of touch with South African reality”; > “too long in exile”; “out-dated”; “ outstripped by events”;etc. Pity there > is no eat-your-hat reprisal that political actors can impose on the > over-clever commentator! Dr Qobo could well be a candidate for such! > > > > All Dr Qobo has done is vent his spleen! He has offered no analysis. He > does not even point the way forward! (But then perhaps he does not know > it!) > > > > So Dr Qobo does not like the ANC. Well and good. That is his right. But if > he wants to convince us that his dislike is well grounded he had better > offer us some convincing arguments. > > What do his arguments boil down to?? > > (i) The ANC is 100 years old and lives on its history and > myths. > > (ii) There is serious disagreement amongst its members about > the way forward. > > (iii) Zuma was long on history, but short on vision on > January 8th. > > Oh, I forgot, the ANC leadership are corrupt! > > Can that be said to be serious political argument?? Pleeezzzz??? > > It is evident though that Dr Qobo does not know this history of the ANC > and is hardly able to sift history from myth! What are these “myths” that > the ANC lives on?? He can’t tell us. > > > > Dr Qobo would be wise to weigh just one or two heavy duty facts. > > > > (i) Before 1994 our economy was structured to serve the > minority at the expense of the majority and the ANC has the challenge of > reversing and re-structuring the economy to serve the majority. [ If he > doubts what I am saying, let him examine how the South African economy > responded to international currents prior to 1994. Even today or business > community, which is still White-dominated and has merely co-opted a handful > of Africans, insists that they will not create jobs unless the law permits > them to employ people at rock-bottom wages. In other words a return to the > economics of White domination. Even a fool could see that what we need is a > growing internal market, attainable only with high wages and an expanding > body of consumers.] > > (ii) Despite all the disappointments, and they have been > many, this country has never before enjoyed seventeen years of continuous > stability, with no major political upheavals prior to 1994. [and Dr Qobo > can check that with any time-chart he chooses to employ!] Which makes me > wonder how this decadent, near death body he so despises managed to do > that!! > > Makes you think doesn’t it?? > > > > So? What is the ANC’s secret?? > > > > Like many before him Dr Qobo is blinded by the events, sights and sounds > of the moment and has rushed to judgement. I wager in another few years, he > will pen yet another write off. But he very likely will be again proved > wrong! > > > > What does this tell us? It is very easy to cast stones and pronounce > anathemas! Sorry Dr Qobo, far cleverer men than you have done so in the > past. We all know who is in the ash-can of history and who is governing the > country. So, please, don’t vote for the ANC! But permit the rest of us to > continue voting for a movement with a proven track record. And watch out > for those ashes!! The ash can too is getting really crowded!! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > You are subscribed. 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