In our rush to understand the events that have overtaken this country in the past weeks there has been a stampede of metaphor, simile and historical misappropriation.
It is an understandable error. In a country that baffles those who live in it, those who observe it and those who invest in it, the instinct to search for meaning in our past in the quest for some picture of the future is probably natural. In this case, though, there are few lessons there. We do live in a different country now.
Not everyone is happy. One of the more lasting upshots of the pact between the IFP, DA and ANC to govern this country via a coalition is that it has made formal, and probably permanent, the split of the ANC. It is a significantly narrower church today, and this is good for both the ANC and the country.
Both the MK party of former president Jacob Zuma and the EFF have not only become opposition parties in parliament, but more importantly they have been excluded from government at national, provincial and municipal level.
In getting here, both parties played their electoral hands surprisingly poorly and were unable to be serious at the right moments. Furthermore, both parties are cultish, and their leaders — Zuma and Julius Malema — were unable to put aside their emotions and personal campaigns even to advance their own parties.
They now call themselves the “progressive caucus”, weak Orwellian rhetorical camouflage for our own Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. These are the parties that seek to demolish the constitution and the rights to property, life and other freedoms. They are the exact opposite of progressive; they are dregs — a principle-free morass of firepools, bank robbers, looters, of state capture kingpins and handlangers.
In shedding them the ANC has bought itself a political future. For the losers there is clear panic. Zuma has gone so far as to suggest that the new coalition government marks a “return of apartheid and colonialism”. Such an observation is so offensive to anyone who remembers life under apartheid that it can only talk to desperation. In saying this, Zuma rubbishes his own legacy of resistance, of 10 years on Robben Island, and two terms as president of the republic he helped to shape.
It is reasonable to assume that Zuma and Malema have not finished going through their stages of loss. Zuma has claimed that the election was rigged — an unoriginal approach to the loss of power. The EFF says it will no longer disrupt parliament, but that was last week so things may have changed.
It’s no small irony that the institutions of the country have weathered terrifically damaging storms brought on them by the likes of Zuma. This means they are probably better prepared than ever for his latest assaults, and they will withstand it.
Motivated opposition
What the MK and EFF do comprise is a motivated opposition, if they feel they can stomach such a life. Any move the new government makes will encounter a tirade of invective. It should not fear this, because the electorate has clearly rejected this brand of politics and it should therefore not be deterred from the reforms the country needs to unlock growth and opportunity in the economy.
The years ahead are laden with risk and promise. A coalition government led by a social democratic ANC in partnership with a liberal DA marks a change so total in our politics that it will take some time for all of us to get used to it. The absolutists, the communists, the segregationists, the racial grifters, the ethnic nationalists and the dregs of the white supremacists will all find the years ahead terrifically uncomfortable. The more it works, the greater the dissonance will become.
All of this makes for wholly uncharted territory. The first job of the new government and the new cabinet is to act with caution. It will certainly not be easy, and there are some who want this foray into nationhood to fail. This should not stop progress. The frustration of 2024’s electorate has freed up the space for a fairer, less corrupt and more considered application of policy and governance. That alone creates an opportunity for economic revitalisation beyond imagination just weeks ago.
There is no single intervention with more power to improve lives than a shot of adrenaline for our moribund economy. The new government has the opportunity of a generation, and it should move quickly, carefully and with purpose.
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