15 February 2018

Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Zuma Quits, Ramaphosa Elected President of South Africa

Jacob Zuma finally bowed to the inevitable and resigned as President of the Republic of South Africa. The African National Congress, which he used to lead, demanded he resign or face a vote of no confidence that he would surely lose. He spared himself, the ANC and his country that sorry spectacle, and the sense of relief that is washing over the nation is the only thing his successor Cyril Pamaphosa has going for him at the moment. One expects a short honeymoon.

Mr Zuma may have been a hero of the anti-apartheid movement, but revolutionaries rarely make good political leaders and almost never are statesmen. Mr. Zuma was supposed to offer South Africa a populism derived from Marxism after the mild Thatcherism of his predecessor Thabo Mbeki. Instead, he handed over large parts of state business to cronies. Sisonke Msimang observed in this morning's Guardian that President Zuma had a string of scandals following him, "acquitted of rape after being accused by the daughter of a friend; refusing to pay for a massive building project at his palatial home; a questionable friendship with a family alleged to have benefited from corrupt state tenders."

Mr. Ramaphosa has promised to wage war on corruption. One hopes for a decisive victory. With the unemployment rate at 30% (worse than America's during the Great Depression), an end to corruption is the key to investment and jobs. However, far too many members of the ANC helped Mr. Zuma, or at best, turned a blind eye to what was going on. They may not be too willing to look under very many rocks to clean things up.

This goes to the heart of the problem. South Africa has been a democratic country, relatively speaking, since the end of apartheid and the first days of the Mandela presidency in 1994. A quarter of a century has passed, and the ANC has never been in a coalition government, let alone been in opposition. While it is democratic, it is also a de facto one-party state. The opposition Democratic Party is seen as the white party, despite being led by a young black South African man, and the Economic Freedom Fighters may prove to be a passing fad in certain quarters.

Nothing would be better for the ANC and the country than for the ANC to spend some time in opposition, redefining itself, its policies and altering its leadership. No one disputes the patriotism of the ANC's septugenarian leaders, the men and women who fought for equality for half a century. But their time is passing because of the mortality of human beings. The torch must be passed to a new generation of South Africans, especially in the ANC.

Elections are approaching next year. Mr. Ramaphosa will likely win. However, if that is going to happen, let him win because he has a new message beyond ending corruption. For a quarter of a century, the ANC has tried to redress the wrongs of apartheid, and the redress is incomplete. The question he must answer is what should South Africa look like a quarter of a century from now.

Mr. Ramaphosa could win the hearts of every South African if he chose not to continue as president in 2019. He could use these few months in power to set a new course that the next generation could follow and adapt. No nation gets a second Mandela in one lifetime, and Mr. Ramaphosa would probably be the last to claim he had the same qualities. But he could be the man of vision who brought down the curtain on the revolutionary generation's time and handed the reins over to their successors.

He probably will not, and therefore, he will have a short honeymoon.

© Copyright 2018 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.