& DAILY NEWS PAGE 15 VIEWS ANALYSIS WEDNESDAY APRIL 26 2017

GEORGE DEVENISH that the ANC secured 63% in The contribution of the the local government elections judiciary, particularly the FREEDOM Day, or April 27, is of 2011. Constitutional Court and the an auspicious date on our pol- SA’s vast potential needs top leaders But in last year’s local gov- public protector, have resulted itical calendar. On that date in ernment elections its support in accountable government, in 1994 the people of diminished to 53.91%. A para- relation to the executive branch voted in the first democratic digmatic change had occurred and the president. In particu- election in our history and the with its support having dwin- lar, the courts par excellence Interim Constitution, involv- dled to below 55%. are behaving independently ing a democratic dispensation It is submitted that a and giving judgments without for all our people, came into change in political paradigm fear or favour. This is of cru- operation. has occurred. The results illus- cial significance in the present Although, in a period of trate in no uncertain terms that political climate. 23 years, we as a nation have the days of ANC hegemony in Also, it is noteworthy that made significant progress as a South African politics are over the organisations of civil soci- constitutional democracy and and that what is emerging is ety, such as the Active Citizens’ it is therefore appropriate to a system of strong multiparty Movement, Freedom under Law commemorate an important democracy, which augurs well and the Mandela Foundation, milestone, we dare not rest on for democracy in South Africa. are also exerting an import- our laurels since very much The extant electoral system, ant influence. Furthermore, more is required to bring about constituted by proportional opposition political parties are social and economic justice in representation involving party flexing their muscles and chal- South Africa for all our people. lists, which applies at national lenging the ANC government Furthermore, the extant pol- and provincial levels, has, using, inter alia, the mechan- itical and constitutional situa- it is submitted, proved to be ism of a no-confidence motion tion in South Africa is fraught wanting. It places far too much in Parliament and seeking a with inordinate problems, power in the leaders of political secret ballot for this vote from uncertainties and difficulties. parties and thereby diminishes the Constitutional Court. Therefore at this particular accountability. It should, it is The extant ANC lacks juncture in our political history, submitted, be replaced by a inspirational leadership of the it is necessary to make a frank hybrid system, similar to the kind essential for South Africa assessment of our body politic one that operates at local gov- to become a successful and and the operation of the con- ernment level. winning nation. We need the stitution. The Van Zyl Slabbert Com- kind of selfless and charismatic As far as the body politic mission was set up for this leadership that is concerned, most informed purpose and subsequently epitomised and bequeathed to commentators agree that South President ’s homestead at KwaNxamalala, Nkandla, in KwaZulu-Natal. PICTURE: BONGIWE MCHUNU recommended such a change, us, as a legacy. South Africa is a Africa lacks inspired and com- which was not adopted. land with infinite potential and petent political leadership. and competent finance minister tion appears to be incompetent development, guided by the waiting in the wings to be put However, a positive political Although the present polit- promise. We need such leaders President Jacob Zuma and and the conse- and corrupt and is essentially National Development Plan into operation. In its place the development for democracy in ical situation leaves a great deal to realise this potential. his administration have been quent downgrading by two rat- reactive, rather than proactive. (NDP). This exemplary plan, ANC is punting the National South Africa is that prior to the to be desired, what is clear is mired in one political scandal ing agencies of our economy to There is a need for critical which was researched and Democratic Revolution and local government elections on that our system of democratic ● Devenish is an emeritus after another, among others the junk status, the Sassa debacle, examination of operations drafted by the most competent Radical Economic Trans- August 3, South Africa could government, rooted in an professor at UKZN and one of recent controversial cabinet the Nkandla debacle and the of government, particularly social scientists in the land and formation and waging a war have been accurately described exceptional constitution, is a the scholars who assisted in reshuffle involving the dis- controversy relating to state in relation to a sustainable universally acclaimed, appears on so-called White Monopoly as a dominant party state dem- vibrant and robust one, with drafting the Interim Constitu- missal of the highly esteemed capture. The Zuma administra- approach to socio-economic in general to be metaphorically Capital. ocracy. This is due to the fact checks and balances. tion in 1993. Zuma in need of a dignified exit strategy

HIS April 27 sees South Desmond Tutu, who worked Africa at a crossroads. On Freedom Day, South to weld the country together The vehicles gather- during the harsh Ting at the intersection Africa faces a giant tug of war onslaught has thrown his sup- want to drive the country in port behind marches against opposite directions. How we ar- Zuma on Freedom Day. Zuma, rived at his point is not difficult over the soul of the country, like Donald Trump, might look to unravel. out of his palace window and Where once the ANC had a see hundreds of thousands singular vision and mission led writes Imraan Buccus marching against him, shrug by a unifying president and a his shoulders and say to him- national executive committee duty in keeping the baying of things yet to come were she self that tomorrow they will which held the welfare of the hordes from breaching the to succeed in making her way be gone. That might be true. nation in trust, we now have an palace gates. Then there is the to the Union Buildings. On the other hand, that might ANC owned by special interests. political aristocrat Lindiwe One curved ball being not be true. A dominant view in the public Sisulu, with her own populist bowled to her by her lead praise At this very moment there mind is that those special inter- brand mounting a whispered singer, her former husband, is is extreme pressure building on South African President Jacob Zuma, right, alongside deputy president . ests are geared towards lining campaign that might propel her that he has succeeded in erod- the streets of Venezuela. Just their own pockets. Few come as a compromise woman can- ing the confidence of the coun- weeks ago citizens marching across as trustworthy. didate for the minor placings. try and compromised South in the streets of South Korea There is Jacob Zuma mor- So far the favourite appears Africa so badly that the prize of succeeded in bringing down tally wounded to within an the less-than-likeable Nko- the ANC presidency might be a a president. At this delicate inch of his political life by a sazana Dlamini Zuma, whose pyrrhic victory. This view holds stage of the development of our judgment of the Constitutional campaign is unable to muster that the ANC is now in rapid democracy that kind of exit for Court but caring not one jot. so much as a car. Whatever decline and that while it will Zuma could do us more harm There are the pretenders to the spurious threat to her per- remain a significant political than good. Zuma must leave the throne worming their way sonal safety there is absolutely player, it will certainly not be office on dignified terms, terms from some corners darker than nothing in policy or legislation ruling until the return of the that must be determined by the others. Cyril Ramaphosa, the that justifies her being driven Messiah. national executive committee. billionaire trade unionist half to campaign rallies by the That assessment is the One argument that it could joins the race as the intermin- presidential protection unit. If saddest indictment of a noble muster is that the two centres able ditherer. Jeff Radebe, once she is scared of anything, she movement which contested of power could be untenable an able Zuma courtier fancies should barricade herself in her with some of the most violent for the country. The ANC has DLAMINI ZUMA JEFF RADEBE his chances but has no real or house and hire private security forces over its century-long his- previously advanced the argu- imagined base from which to like millions of other ordinary tory, only to be underdone from ment that its choice of presi- As things stand, that might Come Freedom Day 2019 ● Buccus is senior research abroad program on political campaign. The acerbic Baleka South Africans, of which she within. South Africans mark dent should also be president be the only chance for his for- and it is looking increasingly associate at ASRI, research transformation. Buccus pro- Mbete feels herself frequently is one. The fact that she now this freedom day more divided of the country. That would be mer wife to legitimately ride likely that black, green and gold fellow in the School of Social motes #Reading Revolution wronged and overlooked even claims entitlements from the than ever before. a face-saving gesture for all with the presidential protection will not be the chosen colour Sciences at UKZN and academic via Books@Antique at Antique though she has done yeoman public purse is an awful sign Even the ailing Archbishop concerned. unit. scheme in the Union Buildings. director of a university study Café in Morningside

press or deny one’s conscience are an indictment on freedom. As liberated citizens, we Freedom and the importance of responsibility cannot obey this call because some argue it is better for a MIAS DE KLERK freedom to do… and 3) freedom one wants to do, including it can never be just the freedom potentially have the making of so-called majority. Indeed, “in as a mindset. NELSON oppressing others; being self- of a chosen few. The freedom of a Madiba and a Verwoerd in us. matters of conscience, the law APRIL is all about freedom, Freedom from something MANDELA ish, unethical and corrupt; and all must be upheld. Freedom of Who we become is not from our of the majority has no place” celebrating the time that free- refers to aspects such as free- exploiting those who have no self-determination is not only environment, but the choices (Mahatma Gandhi). We have dom came to all with the birth dom from oppression and power. This is an immature a right, because “with freedom we freely make. the freedom to make our own of the new South Africa, a place freedom from a despotic gov- perspective of what freedom comes responsibility” (Elean- It is illogical and anti-free- decisions, and the liability to where all citizens are equals, ernment. Although acquiring means. ore Roosevelt). dom for the top echelons of the do so responsibly. and the end of a despotic gov- this freedom in South Africa Freedom is not infinite: Even when we are free, South African government to We can choose to be enslaved ernment in which only some demanded many years of self-determination does not we remain responsible and blame our tarnished history for by history, but we have freedom were free. struggle, costing the personal mean freedom of action with accountable for everything we their own corrupt and oppress- now to do the right thing; free- Whether we are from the freedom and lives of many, this disregard to its consequences. do. With responsibility comes ing choices; choices that hurt dom not to suppress our con- previously oppressed or the “freedom from” was constitu- If freedom is expressed indis- the duty to respond appropri- the powerless, while the elites science in support of corrupt oppressor, we were all freed tionally achieved in April 1994, criminately, it ultimately lapses ately and to be accountable for remain “free” from the liability leadership. from our respective chains in and a government should now again in despotism and anarchy. what we do. As Jean-Paul Sartre to account for what they do. Being free from oppression 1994, so that we all could bask be able to keep this fairly easily Unconfined freedom can be as said: “Man is condemned to be Thirdly, freedom is not only and having free choice is a in the wonderful light of living in a good state. devastating and disruptive as free.” It is exactly because I am about constitutional freedom: wonderful but delicate and fra- in a free and equal society. However, with a president legalised oppression. In the free, that I cannot blame anyone “freedom and slavery are men- gile gift that we must cherish, But what is the meaning and Parliament that have been words of Madiba: “For to be else for my deeds and choices. tal states” (Mahatma Gandhi). nurture and safeguard for gen- of freedom? It stems from the found guilty by the Constitu- free is not merely to cast off Freedom without responsib- If I don’t feel free, notwith- erations to come. If we don’t, old English word “freodom”, tional Court of not upholding one’s chains, but to live in a way ility creates a culture of hedon- standing objective freedom, I it will shatter on the floor of encompassing meanings such their oath of office, the pre- whether South Africa is really is about the liberty to live your that respects and enhances the istic, short-term gratification, am not free. despotic anarchy, never again as self-determination, exemp- vious public protector’s find- free from a despotic govern- life in the way you choose and freedom of others.” promoting arrogance and This may sound irrational, to be repaired. tion from despotic control and ing evidence of state capture ment. True freedom from des- to do what you decide to do, With a history of oppression hubris, widespread corruption but the unconscious is a power- De Klerk is a professor in civil liberty. When we reflect on and the president’s refusal potic oppression demands also which is an inherent human in South Africa, often there is a and abuse of power for one’s ful part of the mind that con- Human Capital Management freedom, there are three kinds to accept responsibility, and freedom from more implicit right. However, too often we see delusion that anything done in own benefits, at the cost of trols our thinking and actions and Leadership at the University of freedom we need to consider: rather attempting to silence her, oppressions by those in power. the misconception that freedom the name of freedom is above those you are supposed to serve. more than we often realise. of Stellenbosch Business School 1) freedom from something, 2) one can quite rightly question The second kind of freedom implies one can do whatever and beyond criticism. However, As liberated citizens, we all Calls from politicians to sup- (USB)