Opinion | GNU relegated the ANC to another outlet supervised by whiteness

In an interview on the Government of National Unity (GNU), Dr Ntando Sindane, expressed sadness at the developments on Sizwe Walshe Mpofu’s YouTube podcast.

Dr Sindane exclaimed how disappointing it was to see that the ANC has decided to enter into shared governance, particularly with a right-wing Democratic Alliance (DA) for the 7th administration of South Africa’s 30-year-old democracy.

Analysing the DA’s tone-deafness towards race as an antagonistic aspect in South Africa’s landscape, Dr Sindane cautioned that the country is in a fragile moment that does not afford white people leadership in governance for self-determination and inclusion. Particularly not a right-wing white organisation that is primarily market fundamentalist and hardly has policies to address historical injustices for the sake of closing an inequality gap that qualifies as the worst in the world, wherein a majority who are black are yet to enjoy the promises of democracy and prosperity.

While the GNU is yet to be solidified as a genuine political project for the collective advancement of South Africa, the DA has parachuted itself as the voice of the coalition, so much that it is seen as the primary partner of the ANC in constituting the GNU, having opinions about who should form part of the 7th administration.

Ironically, the DA is rejecting the inclusion of black political parties such as the MK Party of Jacob Zuma and the Patriotic Alliance (PA), which is also classified as coloured.

In their electioneering campaign, the DA released a campaign ad that depicted the burning of the South African flag. In response to the outrage, the DA defended the ad as a position to showcase how they think things will pan out if the ANC continues to govern South Africa, particularly if the ANC goes into coalitions with other black political parties such as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

This was meant to sell the DA as the best alternative or at least government partner.

To this account, I am reminded of Frantz Fanon when he said: “The effect constantly sought by colonialism was to drive in the native’s mind the idea that if the whites were to leave, there would be dire consequences resulting in a barbarian fallback and a degradation of development and civilisation as we know it”.

The account of the DA resonates so much with this mentality because their rationalisation cannot be understood without a critical race analysis that brings us to a stereotypical view that asserts black people as incompetent, incapable, and always held up to the standard of their shortcomings.

To this understanding, white people, much as the DA is positioning itself, must always supervise black people, even black institutions such as the ANC.

What I have been struggling to reconcile is the position of the ANC. Why would a liberation movement, guided by the freedom charter, with very little consultation and reflection, enter into a Government of National Unity that looks like it is controlled by the DA?

Despite the political antagonism that exist across all political parties, most of whom were aiming for the downfall of the ANC, there is hardly a conclusive reason why the ANC would enter into a government partnership with a DA whose policies have no aspiration of advancing a transformation agenda for the sake of self-determination for all and represent an exact opposite of the logic that informs political intent of the ANC.

These questions have brought me to the Ph.D. submission by Member of Parliament, Dr Mbuyseni Ndlozi, who coins a permanent juniority philosophy.

In his moving Ph.D. thesis, Dr Ndlozi describes how colonial rule perpetually keeps black people in a permanent state of dependency and immaturity.

In the case of the ANC, the understanding of permanent juniority can help us understand how even after 30 years of governance and 112 years of institutional building, the ANC is in a position that compromises their fundamental existence and independence from white supervision.

Taking into account the historical role and development of the ANC, the GNU in its current outlook poses a direct regression of the ANC’s political agenda to advance self-determination for the majority, as desired by the Freedom Charter.

This degenerative positioning of the ANC has absolutely denounced the ANC as a global leader towards the true independence of Africa. It has relegated the ANC into another outlet in the periphery, frustrated by whiteness.

In the discourse about getting South Africa on track in terms of an inclusive nation-building project, issues of material conditions such as jobs, economic opportunities, and service delivery are proving to be symptomatic and can hardly be addressed without looking into the source.

What haunts South Africa today is the failure to diagnose and operate the source of the many issues faced by South Africans on a daily basis. South Africa’s material condition is one perpetually informed by race and class. The decision-making processes of South Africa, as an institution, are still influenced by race and class.

We no longer afford to deal with just the symptomatic syndrome of a white-colonial rule establishment manifesting in joblessness for majority blacks, crime, violence, gender-based violence, lack of skills, and access to education alongside other things.

South Africa, like the ANC, is in dire need of an honest introspection that must deal directly with the question of race and class struggle. An introspection, which the DA is incapable of advancing.

What stifles economic, social, and political transformation can no longer be bandaged by “job creation” and service delivery over the wounds of systematic and institutional racism and class struggle.

The source of inadequate governance symptoms must be unearthed with an honesty that will single out the enemy of progress.

This process should lead us to the sentiments, held by Dr Ndlozi, that for a self-determination project, colonialism and apartheid must be redressed. People must define their democracy, free from whiteness and colonial rule, informed by the subjectivity of the black, poor, women, and dispossessed majority.

This restitution project is not meant to be a rosy day for the establishment as we know it. It must result in uncomfortableness that will drive collective effort for inclusion and emancipation for all.

The answers that will arise in such a process will not be found seeking agreement or validation from the establishment as we know it. In fact, the honest answers that will come out of such a course will be radical and must shift the foundation of a democracy founded upon ignorance of historical injustices in the name of the constitution.

A constitution that has almost ignored the abnormalities of South Africa today. It is to this realisation that Dr Sindane asserts “we are duty bound, to imagine an abnormal constitution” for the emancipation of all “the people”. Written by community activist, Lesego Mahlangu