Kenneth Mokgatlhe
The late American politician and entrepreneur, Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, is reputable to have said: “The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one”. Education, formal or informal, teaches us to develop logic, rationale, reasoning, intellect, and knowledge about the world we live in. The purpose of education is to live together in a just society.
I was not really taken aback after hearing the ANC’s secretary-general boasting about how he and another MP representing the ANC lied under oath in the House to protect their leader at the time, Jacob Zuma, from accounting for his alleged accusations of crime.
Mbalula is arrogantly and without regret boasting about how they abuse their majority to render democratic institutions useless such as dishonourable Parliament or Cabinet.
Our current political landscape has drastically lost its intellectual compass which existed at the end of the 1990s. The ANC’s post-2007 national conference held at Polokwane institutionalised and in a way systemised corruption in the public sector. The ANC at the time-resolved to dismantle corruption busters such as the scorpions as they believed that it was going to stop their nefarious activities. There were attempts to introduce authoritarian legislation such as the Protection of State Information Bill and others which enables corruption in government apparatus.
As we engage in what we term comparative politics in political science, I was in a way compelled to look at the history of the ANC where I had to assess the quality of all the party’s SGs since 1912 and I concluded that Mbalula is the worst.
I just cannot compare Mbalula who is a rabble-rouser to the dignified and reputable previous SGs such as Sol Plaatjie, Selope Thema, Bud M’beele, Saul Msane, Mweli Skota, EJ Khaile, Arthur Calata, Elijah Mdolomba, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Duma Nokwe, Alfred Nzo and Kgalema Motlanthe. I intentionally did not mention Gwede Mantashe and Cyril Ramaphosa because I think that they are birds with the same feathers as Mbalula.
I am not mentioning Plaatjie because he is of late, I am looking at his track record as well as his intellectual acumen. There is evidence, to that effect, his classic writings and the work he executed on behalf of his party speak for themselves. With the technological advancement and availability of knowledge, I thought that the political landscape of every country would up-scale and compete with modern global international politics. Our politics are falling apart in terms of lacking intellectualism.
I think that we should not insult or attack Mbalula for his unfortunate revelations of what the ANC is doing or not doing, I honestly believe that we should critically assess the entire political landscape in the country and suggest ways in which we could rescue our country from savages who masquerade as politicians.
As a journalist I used to attend some of the political gatherings (municipal council meetings or party conferences), there was a huge disappointment while listening to casual engagements among “comrades” who did not ignite or inspire intellectualism in their discussions. More time is spent on planning about which projects should be given to who, and how much should be shared among the “comrades”.
I am a former student activist so I am used to political or ideological discussions whenever “comrades” meet. It could be in classrooms, dormitories, or beer halls, we normally pick any issue and debate it with no intention of winning or losing but learning from one another. I think that is no longer happening and it is worrisome because it means that our political space is now going to be crowded by the so-called tenderpreneurs who also double as assassins or Izinkabi who go out neutralising their opponents.
I think that the ANC and all political formations should resurrect or initiate political education and development institutes to help develop a new crop of leadership different from howlers and nincompoops like Mbalula and C. We need a new crop of leadership in South Africa. We are responsible for identifying, grooming, and developing that leadership. Not the praise-singers like the leader of the non-existent ANC Youth League, Collen Malatji.
Mokgatlhe is a columnist and political writer studying at the Ben Gurion University in Israel.
The Star