THE Jacob Zuma "tsunami" that swept former president Thabo Mbeki from power started with a big splash in Polokwane a little more than six years ago. Now, according to Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille, a "wave of blue" originating in the same Limpopo city is about to wash away the flotsam of corruption, inefficiency and economic stagnation the Zuma tsunami left in its wake.
The launch of the DA election manifesto in Polokwane on Sunday was a slick affair that seemed to borrow as much from the "Yes We Can" campaign style of US President Barack Obama as the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) song, dance and sloganeering tradition. But it was loud, it was prominent — even broadcast live by the usually hostile SABC — and the election rhetoric and inevitable campaign promises were expressed with a greater level of confidence than in the past.
The DA has come a long way under Ms Zille, not only in terms of increased electoral support but also in the way it has moulded itself in the image of what it believes is its natural constituency: new and aspirant members of the black middle class, which used to identify strongly with the ANC of Nelson Mandela and Mr Mbeki, but have become disillusioned under Mr Zuma’s leadership.
Ms Zille went to some lengths in her speech on Sunday to differentiate between the ANC of the first decade-and-a-half of South Africa’s democracy, and the ANC which coalesced around Mr Zuma and helped him into power and out of the dock, where he was facing more than 700 corruption-related charges arising from the notorious arms deal. Describing them as "two different parties that just happen to share the same name", she lamented the way a "great political movement" that she acknowledged had contributed hugely to South Africa’s emancipation from apartheid had been hijacked — "by people who care more about themselves than the people they are meant to serve". The ANC had "lost its way" under Mr Zuma and was wasting state resources on "corrupt projects like Nkandla", she said.
Given the divisions that have opened up in the ruling party and tripartite alliance in recent years, such a "divide and hope to rule" strategy is good politics from the perspective of the opposition. Mr Zuma has been a divisive figure ever since he was fired as deputy president by Mr Mbeki, and the DA would be remiss if it failed to capitalise.
But it does not have exclusive rights to this approach — Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema, who launched his party’s manifesto at a rowdy rally in Tembisa, Gauteng, on Saturday, has turned vitriolic attacks on the Zuma personality cult he helped to create into something of an art form. Numerous independent polls confirm Mr Zuma’s popularity has plunged, making him a weak point in the ANC’s campaign armour.
The EFF has at least one significant advantage over the DA, despite Mr Malema’s personal difficulties with the taxman and criminal justice system : it has no difficulty differentiating itself from the ANC, especially when it comes to economic policy. Aside from the glaring contradiction of a party with the phrase "economic freedom" in its name advocating the precise opposite, the EFF’s cleptosocialist policies look nothing like those of the ANC. In fact, they appear to have been devised solely to show up the ANC and be as populist as possible, with not a thought given to practicality or affordability or sustainability.
The DA, in its efforts to present itself as a serious alternative government, does not have the luxury of taking the vote-catching rhetoric too far. Instead, it must rely on its track record in government in the Western Cape, and to a lesser extent in Midvaal, to persuade voters that although its economic goals are little different to those of the ANC, it is more likely to achieve them.
So, like the ANC, the DA is for black economic empowerment and affirmative action, but insists it would implement the policy more effectively, less corruptly, and to the benefit of the previously disadvantaged masses rather than a new elite. It is a far more nuanced, and therefore more difficult, sell than the promise of immediate wealth and land redistribution through wholesale nationalisation, a major part of the EFF manifesto.
Still, the DA document contains a number of concrete and innovative proposals to break the logjams causing the South African economy to stagnate. These range from ways to improve the basic education system and crack down on corruption to means of creating jobs and stimulating economic growth.
These will need to be unpacked in the two months before the election, and some will no doubt be found to be more semblance than substance. But many have been tried in the Western Cape and have achieved results that have been acknowledged by enough independent institutions to have attracted the attention of a generally disgruntled electorate.
It is only through proving that it can succeed where the ANC is failing that the DA has a chance of forcing the change Ms Zille says is "in the air".
Picture: BUSINESS DAY
THE Jacob Zuma "tsunami" that swept former president Thabo Mbeki from power started with a big splash in Polokwane a little more than six years ago. Now, according to Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille, a "wave of blue" originating in the same Limpopo city is about to wash away the flotsam of corruption, inefficiency and economic stagnation the Zuma tsunami left in its wake.
The launch of the DA election manifesto in Polokwane on Sunday was a slick affair that seemed to borrow as much from the "Yes We Can" campaign style of US President Barack Obama as the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) song, dance and sloganeering tradition. But it was loud, it was prominent — even broadcast live by the usually hostile SABC — and the election rhetoric and inevitable campaign promises were expressed with a greater level of confidence than in the past.
The DA has come a long way under Ms Zille, not only in terms of increased electoral support but also in the way it has moulded itself in the image of what it believes is its natural constituency: new and aspirant members of the black middle class, which used to identify strongly with the ANC of Nelson Mandela and Mr Mbeki, but have become disillusioned under Mr Zuma’s leadership.
Ms Zille went to some lengths in her speech on Sunday to differentiate between the ANC of the first decade-and-a-half of South Africa’s democracy, and the ANC which coalesced around Mr Zuma and helped him into power and out of the dock, where he was facing more than 700 corruption-related charges arising from the notorious arms deal. Describing them as "two different parties that just happen to share the same name", she lamented the way a "great political movement" that she acknowledged had contributed hugely to South Africa’s emancipation from apartheid had been hijacked — "by people who care more about themselves than the people they are meant to serve". The ANC had "lost its way" under Mr Zuma and was wasting state resources on "corrupt projects like Nkandla", she said.
Given the divisions that have opened up in the ruling party and tripartite alliance in recent years, such a "divide and hope to rule" strategy is good politics from the perspective of the opposition. Mr Zuma has been a divisive figure ever since he was fired as deputy president by Mr Mbeki, and the DA would be remiss if it failed to capitalise.
But it does not have exclusive rights to this approach — Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema, who launched his party’s manifesto at a rowdy rally in Tembisa, Gauteng, on Saturday, has turned vitriolic attacks on the Zuma personality cult he helped to create into something of an art form. Numerous independent polls confirm Mr Zuma’s popularity has plunged, making him a weak point in the ANC’s campaign armour.
The EFF has at least one significant advantage over the DA, despite Mr Malema’s personal difficulties with the taxman and criminal justice system : it has no difficulty differentiating itself from the ANC, especially when it comes to economic policy. Aside from the glaring contradiction of a party with the phrase "economic freedom" in its name advocating the precise opposite, the EFF’s cleptosocialist policies look nothing like those of the ANC. In fact, they appear to have been devised solely to show up the ANC and be as populist as possible, with not a thought given to practicality or affordability or sustainability.
The DA, in its efforts to present itself as a serious alternative government, does not have the luxury of taking the vote-catching rhetoric too far. Instead, it must rely on its track record in government in the Western Cape, and to a lesser extent in Midvaal, to persuade voters that although its economic goals are little different to those of the ANC, it is more likely to achieve them.
So, like the ANC, the DA is for black economic empowerment and affirmative action, but insists it would implement the policy more effectively, less corruptly, and to the benefit of the previously disadvantaged masses rather than a new elite. It is a far more nuanced, and therefore more difficult, sell than the promise of immediate wealth and land redistribution through wholesale nationalisation, a major part of the EFF manifesto.
Still, the DA document contains a number of concrete and innovative proposals to break the logjams causing the South African economy to stagnate. These range from ways to improve the basic education system and crack down on corruption to means of creating jobs and stimulating economic growth.
These will need to be unpacked in the two months before the election, and some will no doubt be found to be more semblance than substance. But many have been tried in the Western Cape and have achieved results that have been acknowledged by enough independent institutions to have attracted the attention of a generally disgruntled electorate.
It is only through proving that it can succeed where the ANC is failing that the DA has a chance of forcing the change Ms Zille says is "in the air".
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