THEMBILE NDABENI
CAPE TOWN - There are two forms of the “war of position”; literal and figurative.
An IsiXhosa idiom goes “ungabokhwaza ungekaphumi ehlathini”, which translates as “don’t make a noise if you are not yet out of the woods”. Maybe it is wise for people to undergo a certain metamorphosis for their sake, and for the sake of our communities.
It is within this context that you should learn that you do not form a party or any other formation out of anger or revenge, or for yourself, but for the benefit of the people.
From its inception ActionSA has been talking about deploying qualified people for service delivery.
Isn’t that cadre deployment? One concern with its cadre development has been the fact that it is centred on educated people, engineers etc, and that is missing the point.
Engineers are people employed to do their job whether they belong to a political party or not. Then in terms of a position like councillor you need a person with good social standing and the capability to serve the people.
A councillor’s job is about making sure that community services like water, electricity, potholes, and refuse collection are delivered. Political experience is not a precondition.
The modelling of ActionSA has raised eyebrows from the beginning. It was modelled around academically qualified people.
Having qualified people is good indeed. But it becomes problematic when you confine it to academic qualifications. That makes ActionSA too elitist. Perhaps it is because it was founded by a businessman.
In the war of position, shortly after the celebration of victory, and shouting at the ANC, ActionSA supporters complained about favours or a discrepancy in the allocation of positions.
ActionSA has encountered a war of position from the beginning, especially at local government level.
One does not rule out the possibility of people fighting for positions in the belief that by organising for the party they would be rewarded with jobs.
But instead of investigating with the intention of resolving the matter amicably, ActionSA expelled the members, accusing them of being part of a political plot to tear it apart.
Instead of investigating the root cause of the problem, party leader Herman Mashaba pointed to the cause as being the tendencies of ANC members or supporters coming to his party.
Instead of seizing the moment at its disposal, ActionSA is messing up.
As a party that claims to be better than the ANC and to aspire to be its alternative, it must demonstrate that it is democratic.
The very foundation or making of democracy is about the people. If Mashaba fails to listen from the very beginning before he holds any position at local, provincial or national government, how much more so when he is in power?
Mashaba is a businessman and not a politician, hence his approach does not reach the ordinary person on the ground.
His selective attitude towards foreign nationals is another burning issue. Why select and deal only with your “brothers” next door, but say nothing about those from across the seas, Italy, the Czech Republic, and the rest? He even made a mockery of Malema’s effort towards achieving a United State of Africa.
This makes one wonder if he is an African.
He is, just historically, but not politically. Could the fact that he is getting funding from the arch-capitalist Oppenheimer family have a bearing on his political approach?
What about Dr Makhosi Khoza? Who is next? You cannot have more than one bull in a kraal.
Bongani Baloyi, the former mayor of Midvaal, has just joined ActionSA and became part of the senate from the beginning. What about that? Is that “The People’s Dialogue”?
The way the leadership is referred to as the senate, says it all. Brenda Fassie’s song goes “Kuya Ngokuthi Ungubani” (it depends on who you are).
Ndabeni is a former history tutor at the University of the Western Cape, and former educator at Bulumko Senior Secondary School in Khayelitsha
Cape Times