Business Day
*What was wrong with the first transition?* *Aubrey Matshiqi, Business Day, Johannesburg, 12 March 2012*IN THE African National Congress (ANC), things come in pairs. Former president Thabo Mbeki incensed some among us in 1998 with his "two nations" thesis. He argued that our country consisted of two nations --- one white, prosperous and developed and the other poor and underdeveloped. While the country was still trying to recover from the two-nations thesis, Mbeki's policy wonks pulled another rabbit from their hat of intellectual tricks: they dreamed up the idea of "two economies" --- one advanced and the other characterised by poor economic indicators. Left-wing ideologues pooh-poohed the idea, its supporters failed to improve on it, and it died a natural or unnatural death depending on how one feels about how the Mbeki presidency came to an end.
Like love and marriage, marriage and divorce, and horses and carriages --- according to an ANC discussion document --- democratic transitions come in pairs too. One of the discussion documents that was presented to the nation by the ANC's head of policy, Jeff Radebe, a week ago comes with the ominous title, The Second Transition? --- Building a national democratic society and the balance of forces in 2012. I say "ominous" because if there is a need for a second transition, what was wrong with the first one? It is at this point that we must allow the ruling party to enlighten us. In the 2007 Strategy and Tactics document, the authors argue that: "Informed by our own concrete conditions and experiences, this (a national democratic society) will, in some respects, reflect elements of the best traditions of social democracy, which include: a system which places the needs of the poor and social issues such as healthcare, education and a social safety net at the top of the national agenda; an intense role of the state in economic life; pursuit of full employment; quest for equality; strong partnership with the trade union movement; and promotion of international solidarity." All of this will be driven, not by a welfare state, but by an interventionist developmental state.
Furthermore, the idea of a second transition is informed by several worries. The most important seems to be the concern that our democracy has underperformed in relation to the promise of a better life. In addition, the ANC seems to be worried about the dominance of class and racial agendas and interests whose gains have occurred at the expense of changing the lived reality of many, if not most, of its supporters, contrary to what the economic indicators of the privileged tell us.
The usual class and racial hysteria has been the dominant response to the ANC's discussion documents. This will, of course, be followed by an orgy of blame. Is it the government, labour or big business that is to blame for the imposition of conditions of underdevelopment on the poor and unemployed? My answer is that the many failures of the ANC government do not constitute the totality of what is wrong with our post-apartheid order. Also, because the enhancement of the democratic experience of all citizens should be an ever-present imperative, we must continually review our democracy. The idea, for instance, that the constitution must not be reviewed is, therefore, irrational, untenable and undemocratic. The review must happen irrespective of our suspicions about the political party in power. Since power does not reside only in government, the alternative is the tyranny of interests that have become hegemonic outside the government.
What the ANC must remember is that battles over the content of our democracy are being fought inside and outside its ranks, and the forces that have gained the most from the 1994 democratic breakthrough are doing battle inside and outside the ruling party. This, however, should not absolve the ANC. While some of its failures result from objective conditions in the global and domestic terrain, the ANC cannot run away from the fact that it should have done better. Therefore, the second transition may have been necessitated, in part, by the fact that the ANC squandered its electoral majority and the iconic status of Nelson Mandela when it mattered the most.
* Matshiqi is research fellow at the Helen Suzman Foundation *From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=167156* -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
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