SA politics is more a cacophony than a symphony. That said, somewhere in the background, if you listen carefully, there is a new political party trying to introduce a new tune.
Rise Mzansi has yet to register in public polling and, in truth, it is hard to work out exactly what it offers, outside of well-meaning general sentiment, but it is taking itself seriously, which is more than a lot of new parties do. And so it is worth thinking about in turn.
As with all new parties, it has the luxury of vague generalisation. The “about” section on its website is filled with platitudes. We need more accountability, less corruption, economic growth, a better justice system and more effective education. It’s not great on specifics, but then it doesn’t really need to be. Its purpose, as things stand, seems to be little more than establishing itself as responsible, thoughtful and different.
The problem with that is that every political party — at least ostensibly — stands for all that is right and good. Even the ANC. The devil is in the details. Avoid the details and it is easy enough to present yourself as virtuous.
Rise Mzansi will argue that it spends endless time elaborating on the details in Twitter Circles and op-eds. But you can’t run a successful political party that way. You need a message to put on a poster. At the moment it is hard to work out what that message would be, outside of: “We are good people, we promise.”
It is harder still to work out exactly what the grand plan is. A wise minority voice in the National Assembly? A half-political half-NGO that facilitates debate? If the goal is actual power — the point of politics — that would seem a bridge it hasn’t contemplated crossing yet.
Part of the problem is the founder of Rise Mzansi, Songezo Zibi. Zibi is, as they say, “good people”. First and foremost an intellectual who cares deeply about ideas and argument, he finds the current ANC regime as perplexing as it disheartening: a collection of venal fools, being foolish and venal. He is not wrong. But then most people — even ANC supporters — seem to agree with that. His is the old DA problem: what now?
You aren’t going to argue ANC supporters into a new home. Just like you aren’t going to argue the ANC into a reformation. Politics is about winning hearts and minds. Rise Mzansi seems exclusively focused on the mind, at the expense of the heart. It should be called “Think Mzansi”, perhaps a better description of its approach.
It speaks well of Zibi that he is willing to enter the Colosseum. SA is awash with commentators who can see every fault line in our politics, our political parties and our political leaders. Next to none of them would dare go into actual battle. It’s all so simple and obvious from the stands. One day in actual politics, and most would see the lions let loose on them, probably by their own supporters. Politics is an arena one needs to experience to properly understand. Of course, once inside, it is helpful if you are a political animal by nature.
It is hard to imagine Zibi centre stage at a rally. One suspects it is hard for him to imagine that too. He is far more comfortable having a “dialogue” or giving a lecture, and so that is what he spends his time doing. SA Twitter debate is all the richer for it. And the 200 people he gets into a weekly Twitter Circle all seem to appreciate the effort. Only 5% of registered voters are on Twitter, however — 95% of the people have never heard of him. At this rate, they never will.
The EFF is a good counter example to Rise Mzansi — its polar opposite in almost every way. What Malema understood is that to seriously contest for power, you need a national platform. So he hijacked the ANC Youth League infrastructure wholesale. Hey presto: instant party. The price he paid for that is an organisation of alienated recalcitrants more invested in hurting the ANC and theatrics than actual problem solving.
Rise Mzansi’s approach has been far more deliberative. First it was the Rivonia Circle (it still seems to be half Rivonia Circle) and a series of in-person introductions; and then to find and recruit the best and brightest, one by one. It’s a slow process, and still going on. That is all well and good — it seems to have gathered a few good people, stored away for a rainy day — but you need supporters to put those people in office. On that front, the pantry is bare.
If the goal is a single MP, there to speak truth to power and be wise and honest in the face of rampant self-interest and demagoguery, that’s fine. Maybe it’s even possible with a monumental effort. That’s not really going to change SA’s fortunes, however. If this is a 20-year project, that too is fine. But our problems are a little more immediate.
Perhaps, in Rise Mzansi’s private meetings, the goal is that its one MP becomes the president. Zibi has suggested he would be open to this. How exactly he is going to convince 399 other MPs to go along with this also remains to be seen.
This is why one is forced to ask: what is the plan? If it has anything to do with the 2024 election, time is a-wasting.
The thing about being different — a central Rise Mzansi tenet — is you need what are called wedge issues: ideas that put your competition in the “wrong” corner and you in the “right” one. Demagogues are very good at this. Look at Herman Mashaba and the death penalty. A lot if people want this. Parties like the DA and ANC will oppose it. And it is not possible anyway. So advocating for it sets you apart, has popular appeal and negates any actual responsibility for the idea regardless.
If you are not a demagogue, it is admittedly harder to identify wedge issues. But that’s the game. Rise Mzansi desperately needs some. It is indistinguishable. Take SA’s top 10 issues, and try to differentiate Rise Mzansi from say, the DA. At best, would just be guessing. From a voter’s perspective, why vote for the unknown entity when the DA has 20% and some actual governments, even if you suspect a few subtle differences on the margins?
A good sign of an impactful political party, in terms of current affairs, is when other parties are forced to respond to you. That is how you lead debate. Not only does no-one ever respond to Rise Mzansi, no-one even reads what it says. And yet is says things every day.
The DA is expert at using democratic mechanisms to force debate — writing to the public protector or laying a complaint with the police. It wrote the template. Rise Mzansi seems to consider itself above all this. That is fine too. But op-eds alone aren’t going to fill the gap, no matter how brilliant the argument. You need some politics. You are in the business of politics.
SA is “being destroyed by politicians who profit from a system that does not allow democratic accountability”, says Rise Mzansi. We need to “find ethical, committed patriots to represent our hopes and dreams”.
Deriding “politicians” is a national sport, perhaps understandably. But the alternative, if you want power, is not non-politicians; it is better politicians. Others have tried the non-politician route — Mamphela Ramphele comes to mind; she got eaten alive, eventually by the very party she formed. Politics exists, even if you pretend it doesn’t.
There is such a yearning for “reasonableness” in SA today; for ideas such as “common sense”, the “common good” and the needs of the “common man”. It’s an indictment of the state of the nation that our needs have been reduced to the absolute basics. And that’s Rise Mzansi’s offer: good people, with good ideas, trying to do the right thing for everyone. It’s all very nice.
Only, nice guys tend to finish last. You need a bit of edge. You need some politics. You need to be seen to stand for something, not everything. If SA were a university, Rise Mzansi would be a promising student at the back of the class. But SA is a street fight, and the only thing Rise Mzansi is wielding is a well-written pamphlet. And it is waving it far away from the actual confrontation.
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