Parties must unite, compromise to move Mzansi forward

The momentousness of this week cannot be overstated.

This is the week in which the next five years of our political future is being decided.

Today (Monday) both the ANC and the DA are gathering their respective leaderships to plot the way forward.

Others are also in deep discussions to decide their fate and that of their voters.

The ANC has proposed (wisely, in my opinion) a Government of National Unity (GNU), meaning that we have come full circle as they attempt to revive Nelson Mandela’s democratic dream a month before his birthday.

The recognition and acceptance that South African voters are calling for unity and cooperation, is a sign of political maturity in my opinion.

But there are those who are determined to stand their ground on the outside. Considering themselves politically principled, they refuse to work with certain parties and specific individuals, which is going to make or break this week for the true representation of many voters.

Jacob Zuma’s MK Party is insisting that it will only negotiate with the ANC if given the assurance that Cyril Ramaphosa will be fired.

That’s not compromise. That’s not putting the will of the people first. That’s Zuma’s ego on display, determined to settle a personal vendetta.

Meanwhile, the EFF wants nothing to do with the DA or the Freedom Front Plus, calling them enemies.

They are not your enemy, they are your political rivals. It’s an important difference.

When you call a political party that has the support of close to seven four million people, your enemy, you are by extension also calling all those voters your enemy.

You are saying that their views, hopes and dreams don’t matter. And while you claim to want to do what’s best for the country, with such animosity towards a sizeable portion of the electorate, there’s no way you will want to look after their best interest even just a little bit.

Besides, a Government of National Unity by definition, should not exclude anyone.

As an aside, these are the same people who had lots to say when Patricia de Lille accepted a ministerial post, but perhaps she was simply ahead of the game.

As more votes gives them more flexing power, there are demands from the other side of the political fence as well.

The DA refuses to work with the EFF and the Patriotic Alliance, for example.

I level the same criticism at all of them. The grand standing and posturing is over.

This is an opportunity to be part of the solution from the inside, by driving some of the agendas and forming alliances to achieve some of your visions.

It’s highly unlikely that you will be able to deliver on any of your election promises, as a small, albeit vocal opposition.

You will be limited to mudslinging and name-calling from the side lines.

I would’ve thought that with a name like Patriotic Alliance, you would be first in line to form alliances that will further your own agenda, even if it is just incrementally at first.

One win is better than none and would impress others, helping secure more votes for you come 2029.

Plus, we must not underestimate the role of guarding your interest and the interest of society from the inside.

Your vigilance against corruption, looting and general criminality would be valuable to us all and put you in further good standing with your constituents.

I have said this before, but it bears repeating – part of the role of political leadership is education of the public.

As an elder statesman who commanded respect, Mandela did a good job guiding the nation and teaching us the value of tolerance and measured compromise.

He understood that people needed to be educated about setting their own narrow beliefs aside in favour of what was best for all.

Yes, majority rule, but it’s so much better when you can also get the buy-in of the minorities, so that everybody feels that they have gained something in exchange for their compromise.

What is reassuringly admirable and conciliatory, is that the parties that took the greatest knocks – the ANC and the IFP are prepared to work together.

These are the parties that most people would’ve suspected of questioning the election results and threatening violence, especially in KZN.

Instead it is the MK Party that is doing that, despite the fact that they got a lot more votes than I’m sure even they expected.

The fact is, our country is in a mess. We are one graft-scandal away from becoming a full-on failed state.

Our unemployment rate has climbed to 33%. Soon our daily murder rate will top 100.

We live with the real fear of our homes being invaded, our wives being hijacked, our children being trafficked and our daughters being raped.

Cops have been implicated in cash-van heists and kidnappings-for-ransom, which is now a thriving criminal enterprise in South Africa.

Innocent young lives on the Cape Flats have become completely disposable, as barely a day passes without yet another unsolved mass or gang shooting.

It’s interesting to me that with all the portfolio demands being made, nobody put up their hand for the Police Ministry job.

Is that an admission of the difficulty of the job?

All the while, the indigent along with middle-class are being squeezed out of existence, with (what feels like runaway) inflation. The most popular item in the supermarket these days, is anything that has been marked down for reaching its sell-by date.

A GNU doesn’t come without it’s own unique challenges, but if those can be overcome, it will put more heads together. More creative diversity is obviously better than one, and may in fact lead to unique solutions to our problems. But will it work this time?

Perhaps Mandela’s Government of National Unity was ahead of its time.

Emerging from our pre-1994 divided society, perhaps we weren’t ready for such an experiment. Perhaps the renewed sense of purpose it gave us, felt too fabricated and forced.

A Government of National Unity sounded wonderfully benevolent, but perhaps unity wasn’t what we desperately needed at that time.

Mandela in a Springbok jersey holding our Rugby World Cup aloft was joyously unifying, but too fleeting, and therefore couldn’t impact our lives for long enough.

Besides, our harsh reality alongside the corrupt and power-hungry politicians who succeeding him, slowly eroded away that joy (alongside his legacy).

Perhaps we needed something more natural and organic to unite us first. And perhaps a collective sense of despair about the political and economic status quo is it.