Generally,
the rise of parties like MKP and the EFF is the direct consequence of the
loosening of the bond between voters and the representatives they elect, and
the increasing perception that the governing party, and lately it will be the
GNU, serve a narrow elite and capital interests.

Unfortunately,
no dogma exists to reverse such a tide except to deliver services and make the
liberation dividend as broad-based as possible. Dismissing issues-driven
opposition to the emerging elite consensus is a serious mistake.

The
phase the leader of the GNU finds itself in produces ‘anti-system voters’. These are
characterised as voters who are frustrated with political systems they perceive
as broken and with economies that reward only the wealthiest. We are now in a
position where every ANC member, especially those carrying the brand of
‘izikhokho ze ndawo’ like Zuma used to and still is, needs to think about this
development as an existential threat to the movement. 

The
MK Party and the loosely arranged opposition complex’s rise will always be best
explained as a broad-based rejection of the existing political establishment
and its failure to protect the living standards of the poor, most of whom are black,
and in particular African, majority. Given where capital and resources are
concentrated, the contest for political power requires socially intelligent
strategies to mitigate the force of money in determining election
outcomes. 

In
a multicultural society like RSA, being in politics involves understanding the
fundamentals of intercultural interaction, developing a mindful approach [and]
building adaptive skills and a repertoire of behaviours so that you are
effective in different intercultural situations. Similarly, understanding that
poverty, unemployment and inequality are not random gives you access to those
that are victims. 

Seeing
those who are poor and downtrodden as being consequential to an organized
system of values, attitudes, beliefs and meanings that are related to each
other and the context of dominance created by economic templates will define
you in the hearts and minds of the anti-system voter population in-wait for a
political alternative. 

Aside
from inertial forces of complacency, denialism, fear of the mirror, and comfort
of incumbency within the liberation movement, it is inarguable that as an institution of
leadership, it may simply be poorly equipped to deal with the MK Party as an
opposition complex. That the liberation movement is the system and establishment over a process they know is ‘incomplete’ in liberation struggle terms is a limitation that requires a
serious engagement on what are the true balance of forces. 

By
building strategy and tactics capabilities into its new offering as the system
and establishment, it will have the ability to not only label the people as the
motive forces of the NDR but accurately articulate what are their issues beyond
just being fodder to freely elect representatives to preside over the status
quo.


The
brute truth is that the movement has an enormous opportunity in front of it: a chance to
use the most powerful political and social brand others don’t have to make a
real difference; brand ANC. This is its new choice,  responsibility, and privilege, it cannot fail. 

What should the response
be? The liberation movement,

·      must recalibrate cadres into leaders of society brigades. 

·   must redefine most of the nomenclature that keeps it stuck in a
world of opposing the system that it has now become. 

·     must interrogate why it still says some of its members are
revolutionaries- which revolution- what are its attributes- what defines its
end state- and so on. 

·   must embrace the idea of being a strong state that has an
intolerance of anyone acting outside national interests. 

·      must build hard power through a strong army, police force, and
sophisticated intelligence and security services. 

·     must create the capacity to ensure the liberation movement
character of the ANC is mainstreamed into the new Political Party character
which attracts career politicians, some of whom are not interested in ANCness,
save to demonstrate knowledge of historical facts. 


There
is a character of the ANC, which is always in conversation with its past,
history of struggle, and fundamental and monumental chronicles that shaped it.
These have become social, political, and cultural rituals holding the ANC
together for more than a century, they are the fabric of being ANC. If the movement is not careful, those who left with Zuma might curate this and hence it might be a
serious mistake to dismiss them. CUT!!!