Malema, yours is the cowardice, not the power or the glory

In death, Alexander Isayevich Solzhenitsyn’s life and works have once again taken centre stage. Arguably Russia’s greatest writer yet and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, he achieved enormous acclaim for exposing the flaws in the Soviet system at a time when it was not only unpopular but, in most cases, fatal to do so.

As a result of his bravery he would spend many years of his life in labour camps, exiled and branded a traitor by his own country before being allowed to return in 1995 and honoured by Russian President Boris Yeltsin. His was an extraordinary courage, which never allowed a fear of being unpopular among his countrymen or physical harm to dissuade him from his greater goal of exposing the evil within the system.

This week, attending the trial of ANC president Jacob Zuma in Pietermaritzburg, ANC Youth League president Julius Malema while addressing a crowd of supporters branded President Thabo Mbeki a coward.

While question marks might arise over some of Mbeki’s policies, nobody, least of all Malema, can deny that he has given his life to the struggle for the freedom of this country and the upliftment of its people. In his refusal to back down to the apartheid government and in his refusal to listen to the planet on Zimbabwe, Mbeki has shown that he is nobody’s coward.

Malema, for his part, has achieved the presidency of the ANC Youth League; while his loyalty to JZ is commendable, his approach in many other areas leaves much to be desired.

As we all know, in South Africa today the popular line is to support Jacob Zuma. As the president of the ANC at this point in time, Zuma will be the next president of South Africa. Accordingly, those within the party are understandably trying to position themselves as close to the throne as they can get. While there is no harm in that, members must remember that the reason that they joined the party is to serve the people, not their own interests. Moreover, that service at present should be focused on ensuring that the rate of transformation and upliftment is accelerated.

In order to achieve that and to demonstrate a commitment to the mandate received at Polokwane, the members who are to form the new government should be demanding that no time be lost in finalising Zimbabwe, requesting labour be mindful of productivity as well as protecting the interests of workers, healing the counterproductive rift in the party, visiting communities to check up on xenophobia, and addressing corruption in respect of services and housing as well as related concerns.

In terms of the trial, JZ supporters should be trying to effect a political solution while confirming that as a government-in-waiting they respect the total independence and integrity of state organs. Whether or not the trial takes place, those entities have to be able to function properly after the election and any attempts to discredit or undermine them will result in major problems for the next government.

Supporters of the ANC president should be encouraged to show their support with dignity, respect and tolerance of the views of others. Show the country, the continent and the planet that this is a government-in-waiting to be proud of.

Unfortunately those trying to position themselves believe that nothing short of threatening to blow up the country demonstrates courage worthy of a place on the team. In fact, it proves the exact opposite. It shows that in your attempt to be popular with the in-crowd you will abandon doing the right thing in order to crack the nod when team selection comes around.

Malema has gone the extra mile. In order to show loyalty he has disrespected the president of this country, thereby widening the rift within the ANC; tried to inflame the masses instead of setting their minds at ease that here is an ANC with their interests at heart; and threatened the organs of state, opposition parties and quite frankly anyone seen wearing a tie.

Where is the courage in that? He is following the populist view but going overboard in his attempt to show his loyalty to the ANC president in order to earn credits he can call up later. If he had said to JZ that while the party leader had his full support he could best serve him and the country by healing the party rift and doing the job he was appointed by the members to do, he would have shown courage. It would have meant risking his popularity with JZ to do the right thing.

Had he apologised to the country for his hate speech, we would all have said that it took a man to admit his mistakes. Unfortunately he would have needed courage to apologise because JZ might have thought Malema wasn’t as homicidal for the cause as he first made out.

Considering that Nelson Mandela has just called for unity, that Mbeki is the president of the country as chosen by the ANC and that the government is made up of members selected by the ANC, Malema’s loyalty to the party has to come into question. While he may have a case for individual loyalty, if the ANC acts as a collective he has no concept whatsoever of what party loyalty is about. He also has no loyalty to the voters because his conduct will put strain on the economy and make delivery to them even more difficult.

His motive is simple — positioning himself within the party. His “selfless” act in being prepared to die for Zuma is in reality a selfish act in trying to position himself within a future government. Worse still for Malema is that it shows the members of the party that he is not someone who can be trusted. He is not a peace-maker and a builder like Madiba; he disrespects the traditions and seniors of the party who aren’t of use to him; and, as must be brutally apparent by now, he is prepared to destroy the party, the country and anything else that stands in the way of him getting what he wants.

A terrifying portrait of innocence at large.