DA and its leaders, bazingela baphethe usawoti

Having read about and been exposed to Mmusi Maimane’s ideology since he was elected and appointed as the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) on 10th of May 2015 in the party's 2015 Federal Congress in Port Elizabeth I can precisely and boldly say that the DA and its leaders particularly Mmusi Mainane “bazingela baphethe usawoti”. I opted to use this African proverb in the title untranslated to a foreign language simply because I believe that if translated it might unintentionally and unconsciously surrender its true meaning. Notwithstanding, let me offer a brief and comprehensive explanation. In the pre-industrial society, foraging was the predominant social order of the day. This social order was based on consumption of food provided by nature obtained through hunting and gathering. Hence, the former was one of the critical aspects of livelihood strategies. Many anthropologists and historians empathetically maintain the role of male figure as the dominant provider in foraging groups, such that the entire household was highly depended on the male figure to hunt and bring meat from the wilderness. Furthermore, they relied upon large areas of land and spatial mobility (which was later restricted by the arrival of Jan Van Riebeek, particularly in South Africa). Likewise, as a part demonstrating honesty, vigilance, and transparency to the members of the household, hunters refrained from brining salt along with them but only hunting apparatus such as spears, bows and arrows amongst others. This was particularly done to circumvent as well as thwart the consumption of the obtained meat nicodemusly.

Therefore, to say DA and its leaders “bazingela baphethe usawoti” simply means that their actions have a sense of selfishness and obsessive egotism. Their call together with other political parties to remove President Jacob Zuma is not a genuine call but to further their own political desires. I have opted to concentrate more on the DA even though other political parties have been part and parcel of the anti-Zuma campaign simply because, the DA and its leader are unscrupulous, they have perpetually proven to exploit the South African people’s frustration, dissatisfaction and other political parties for their own political desire. Their political starvation is conspicuous such that they harshly exploit whatever opportunity they encounter to fulfil their political starvation with political power and domination. In fact, they are political opportunists, they take advantage of every circumstance – with little regard for principles, or with what the consequences are for others. Their actions are expedient actions guided primarily by self-interested motives. I am established and grounded from the philosophical position, which with all odds is against the DA’s outlook to perceive people’s frustrations and defencelessness as hens with golden eggs.

Based on the motion of no confidence, which was announced that it will conducted in a secret ballot by the speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbethe as requested by the oppositions against the President Jacob Zuma on the 07 August 2017, which then proceeded accordingly on the following day of the aforementioned date. This proceeding was not meant to be politicised and centralised in the hands of a certain political parties. The unceasing increasing politicisation and centralisation is one of the diseases that is continuously crippling our nation. However, the DA with their brutal and self-centeredness philosophical attitude saw an opportunity to begin their election manifesto. I am saying this because just after the motion of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma was negative, I received a text which I believe was circulated by the DA administration office which reads as follows: “Today the ANC voted to protect Zuma. They have chosen corruption over & state capture over South Africa. It’s time for a new beginning-SA’s only hope is in the DA”. This is the very same text that ushered me to write and entitled this think piece “DA and its leaders, bazingela baphethe usawoti”. Just after receiving this text, it made a lot of sense to me why Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the DA is unceasingly calling for the South African parliament to be dissolved and have general national elections as early as possible. While the nation is united on the mourning for political instability, economic crisis, social inequality, social injustice and the unceasing increase in unemployment, the DA is campaigning-bazingela baphethe usawoti.

Let me just be clear and precise, I am not denouncing the overwhelming empirical evidence that state-owned enterprises (SOEs), have been notorious for the lack of efficiency, while suffering from political abuse, and draining of state revenue. I am not disputing that the text contains some empirical evidence that the ANC protected their leader President Jacob Zuma during the motion of no confidence. To be fair though, the ANC members who opted to protect President Jacob Zuma are following on the footsteps of the members of the DA, who protected their racist former leader Helen Zille, who publicly praised and applauded the very same system that subjected the majority of Africans to the state of brutal living condition. This is the very same system that murdered men, women, children and babies, not only in South Africa but in most part of the region. This is the very same system that gave non-Africans (white people) ability and power to proceed consciously exploiting our resources to build their own empire, which then gave them various lucrative privileges. The very same system that brutally left Africans landless, robing us our dignity, our values, our relationship with our land is doomed to be beneficial. Anyway, Zille’s tweet makes sense for non-Africans because they benefited a lot from colonialism, they still do even today. For us Africans, colonialism crippled us and knife-robbed us ourselves. I opted to use “” to refer to “white people” simple because the connotation of white continues to exert oppressive and inferior meaning to black. As noted by Fanon that white is associated with to civilisation, modern and human whilst black is associated with ugliness, sin, darkness and immorality.

You, Mmusi Maimane, on the debate of the motion of confidence against President Jacob Zuma mentioned that “I witness all apartheid brutality and I made it my responsibility to fight oppression in this country”, I am amazed that you only see Jacob Zuma as being oppressive but not Helen Zille. You pleaded with the ANC and members of the National Assembly, “do the right thing today” but you did the opposite to Helen Zille, you and your non-African dominated organisation never organised a march against colonial master Zille. Suspending her is not enough, it’s like covering your face with your thumb and think that people won’t recognise your face. Shame on you Maimane, you kiss us with Judas’s kiss in the public, you’re like the Pharisees who always seek public praise. I don’t think your organisation (DA) should be calling for President Zuma and the ANC to be removed, because you still need to clean your home (DA)- “charity begins at home”. It is thus meaningless to act with conscious in the public while your home (DA) needs radical and robust restructuring and retransformation. You should not be like reactionaries, Pharisees, and Sadducees who waste time hypocritically in the public pretending to be righteous because you want public praise. Revolutionaries are not shades of grey but they are ideologically firm.

However, I am discombobulated and bumfuzzled by the latter part of the text “SA’s only hope is in the DA”. This creates suspicion and misbelief in any of activities instigated and initiated by the DA. For you and your DA, it is not about South Africa but it is about you. You are not being honest to the millions of patriotic people particularly those who are not members as well as the supporters of the DA but opted to be part of the several marches initiated and instigated against the ANC. I feel sorry for the opposition whose interest seems to be genuinely about social change. Having said that, let me just give a piece of advice those political organisations, which has opted to trust and be intimate with the DA. Your recent relationship with the DA is a “one-night stand” kind of the relationship. Urban dictionary defines one-night stand as an act of hooking up with someone for one night of fleshly preference with no strings attached and hoping to never see them again. This kind of a relationship maintains that it is critically important not to exchange any personal information with them so they cannot track you down and stalk you later. However, this kind of a relationship is always exploitative and dishonest. DA and its leaders do not care about you but just need your assistance in fulfilling their own political desire.  Anyway, there is an African proverb which says “utshani obulele buvuswa ngom’lilo”.

Frankly, I disagree with the delusional rational abstract that the “SA’s only hope is in the DA”. This is not a fact but a myth, this is being myopic, shallow and pedantic. SA’s only hope is not in the organisation which talk left and walk right. SA’s only hope is not in the organisation that protects its leaders when they make racist comments. It is not in the organisation that does not speak about land compensation, it not in the organisation that does not speak about robust socio-economic transformation, it is not in the organisation that does not admit and acknowledges that non-Africans were the beneficiaries of the colonialism and apartheid. It is not in the organisation that does not acknowledge that capitalism exists in South Africa. It is not in the organisation that does not acknowledge and admit that Guptas are not the only people looting our resources but also the Oppenheimers and the Ruperts amongst other. SA’s only hope is not implanted in the organisation that does not advocate for equity in our country’s resources. Notwithstanding, SA’s only hope I believe is embedded in the organisation and the movement that respects diversity and acknowledges democratic values and principles that are drawn from the African indigenous knowledge. Learn from former and the late President of Burkina Faso Thomas Sankara, who once said

 Our revolution is not a public-speaking tournament. Our revolution is not a battle of fine phrases. Our revolution is not simply for spouting slogans that are no more than signals used by manipulators trying to use them as catchwords, as codewords, as a foil for their own display. Our revolution is, and should continue to be, the collective effort of revolutionaries to transform reality, to improve the concrete situation of the masses of our country.

This is the kind of movement and political organisation which I believe SA’s only hope is grounded.

Thomas Sankara one said, “you cannot carry out a fundamental change without certain amount of madness”. Therefore, I challenge the DA and its leaders particularly Maimane to admit publicly that as much as the ANC seem to have been lost in the script, but the existence of deeper social cleavages between Africans and non-Africans is deeply rooted in the very same system that Helen Zille publicly praised. I challenge you to publicly challenge non-Africans to share their undeserving wealthy, which is characterised by the bloodshed of black people especially in the mining industry, with at least 5 022 black workers who were pronounced no more in the early 1900s. I challenge you to liberate and emancipate the mind of the black child with the fact that historically, non-Africans have benefited immensely from the misery, tears, suffering, “twin evils of oppression and exploitation” of their forefathers. The non-African people’s prosperity has a long history to be drawn from, and the truth is that they received special attention from colonial and apartheid governors, to be where they are today.

While praising and applauding the fallen leaders of the ANC, you must also divulge that it was colonialism and its economic demands that irrevocably altered the social structure of many African societies and set the stage for later problems in African economic development. Don’t forget to mention that the very same system that Helen Zille praised was not just about economic subjugation, but about the ability to wrest control of the local economy from African rulers. With the unceasing brutal and inhumane racism that transpire daily in this country, which some we are not aware of because the media is control by non-Africans and opt not to broadcast, I challenge you to admit in public that racism is an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed. I don’t think you will though, because in your own little world racism does not exist. Lastly, I challenge you Mr Maimane to acknowledge publicly that South Africa needs land expropriation without compensation, as the least of South African population (non-Africans) own more than 60% of land. Like Sir Seretse Khama tell people at the grassroot level they should never forget their past as “a nation without a past is a lost nation, and a people without a past is a people without a soul”. As you visit non-urban areas don’t forget to mention that as much as the ANC is failing to address their living condition, it was the apartheid government (national party which was dominated by non-Africans same as DA) that through Group Areas Act, which spatially segregated and relegated Africans far away from basic needs and amenities. Notwithstanding, I don’t think you will because in the DA, you are like a bird in an iron cage.

 “In order to make history, we must understand history”.

William Peter van Schoor