A Political Discussion – Part 1
During the 80s, we would start our political discussions with an objective analysis of the state we are in as a country and the broader democratic movement, the balance of forces in the region and the world, the subjective factor – our strengths and weaknesses. We always posed the question: Who has the “strategic initiative and setting the agenda for the country?“
The ANC is today in a far worse situation than it was three years ago. The ANC lacks strategic, tactical and organizational coherence. Despite updating its Strategy and Tactics document regularly, the ANC seems to lack the theoretical tools to analyze the state that South Africa finds itself in today.
The fight against ‘State Capture’ and corruption seem to define the current moment under President Cyril Ramaphosa. State Capture has become the new ‘religion’ and a prism within which some in the leadership view developments in South Africa. The May 2019 election results may however suggest that this narrative about our country is erroneous.
It is said that South Africa “is emerging out of the era of State Capture.” Proponents of State Capture deny the origins of the crisis we face today. They ignore the unequal power-relations between black and white and who make economic decisions in our society. They reduce everything to ‘State Capture‘ and put the blame for our failures on former President Jacob Zuma.
The proponents of State Capture have simply adopted an emerging body of international literature on State Capture and applied this in a “mechanical” manner to the situation in South Africa. This is not helpful, and if taken to its logical conclusion, will further deepen the problems and divisions in our society.
If we are not careful, South Africans will spend the next 10 or more years tearing the country apart under the pretext of fighting State Capture.
The notion of State Capture does not explain nor represent the totality of our experiences over the last decade. There have definitely been wrongdoing and corruption during this period and those responsible must be held accountable.
But this does not fully explain the many challenges we face and the causes of the setbacks we suffer today.
“The youth are beginning to search for alternatives and are reading the writings or works of Bantu Steven Biko, Thomas Sankara, Che Guevara and others.”
South African society has become more diverse, more differentiated, more divided and unequal, more complex as a result of the many changes that have taken place over the past two decades.
These include structural changes in the economy, technological transformations and its impact on the world of work, climate change, demography changes, migration, and other global factors.
Attempts to impose a single explanation or narrative of the issues and challenges facing our society had failed. A significant part of our society and the young generation are rejecting the narrative of the dominant classes.
They are calling for different explanations. The youth are beginning to search for alternatives and are reading the writings or works of Bantu Steven Biko, Thomas Sankara, Che Guevara and others.
There is no doubt that our country needs change. However, we should contest the direction which the proponents of “State Capture” are prescribing for the country.
It is important that trade unions, community organizations, the unemployed, the rural masses, women, youth, and student formations, shack dwellers and society at large should mobilize and challenge the dominant narrative.
My propositions are:
1) South Africa failed after April 1994 to make a decisive break with the accumulation path it embarked upon when diamond and gold were discovered over 100 years ago,
2) That low levels of investment are the function of two related factors: (a) the crisis of profitability facing South Africa’s capitalist economy inherited from our apartheid colonial past, and (b), that this has been deepened by the ongoing conflict between political power and economic power in post-apartheid South Africa, and,
3) That a historical compromise has become an urgent necessity to resolve this conflict in the best interest of the country.
As we continue to forge a common nationhood, we should promote diversity of views and perspectives about our country and its many challenges.
We are after all a nation in the making – a true “melting pot.”
Lucky Montana is the former CEO of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa)
