Cope: Time to stand up and stand tall

By Siyanda Mhlongo

The ANC was elected on April 22 2009 on the promise that it would be pro-poor and anti-corruption. The triumvirate of Jacob Zuma, Blade Nzimande and Zwelinzima Vavi accused Cope of being elitist. It is the ANC of Nxamalala that has proved beyond reasonable doubt that is elitist, parasitic and wasteful.

It is the ANC that has wasted R48 million on cars despite the recession. Nxamalala is spending R65 million on his homestead but people in Inkandla are amongst the poorest. Zuma will live like Louis XIV, the Tsar and Batista, they all lived posh lifestyles before the revolutions overthrew them in France, Russia and Cuba. Nelson Mandela and Mbeki do not enjoy such a bourgeois lifestyle. Where is promise to close the gap between rich and poor?

Bheki Cele, Zuma’s Cele, Zuma’s trusted securocrat lives in a R3.3 million state-sponsored mansion. Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa bought a R150 million jet for the police and his hotel bills amounted to R500 000.

Taxpayers paid Dali Mpofu R11 million and Vusi Pikoli R7 million in handshake deals, R500 million was set aside to create offices and infrastructure for Zuma’s bloated cabinet — created to accommodate ANC factions — and more than R150 million went to the inauguration of Nxamalala and premiers.

Nxamalala promised 500 000 jobs every year. This year we have lost 900 000 decent and quality jobs but no decent jobs have been created. Hospitals have run short of medicine and ARVs. Co-operative Governance Minister Sicelo Shiceka’s report has indicated that municipalities are collapsing. The Auditor-General has painted a gloomy picture of financial management at municipalities. The Eskom fiasco is a result of indecisive political leadership. ANC elite are parasiting Transnet, Ithala, the Land Bank, DBSA and other state parastatals. Minister Collins Chabane has abused the state credit card.

Instead of curbing corruption, Nxamalala deployed Travelgate MPs and many who were implicated in the arms deal and Oilgate scandals. The deployment of Menzi Simelane and the marginalisation of Judge Dikgang Moseneke were the last nails in the good corporate governance coffin.

This government, though it continues with the sound economic policies of the Madiba and Mzizi administrations, has departed from the values enshrined in the Freedom Charter and in the Ready To Govern document. That Nxamalala is spending millions on his Nkandla home indicates that Msholozi puts his interests before that of the poor. Our people face retrenchment and poverty but government leaders and corrupt bureaucrats are insensitive to their plight.

These are issues Cope has been raising since its inception. Though Cope faces many challenges to create a modern political party, it must establish itself as shield to protect the nation from greed and malpractices in government and in broader society. Cope must lead society in the renaissance of collective moral values that produced leaders like Chief AJ Luthuli, OR Tambo and Nelson Mandela. It is now impossible to fight corruption from within the ANC. Corruption and patronage has co-opted or silenced even trusted cadres. Those who disagree with the ANC of Nxamalala are whipped and now remain reticent.

Just a year old, Cope must stand tall that it stood against the erosion of morals in society. Today, the hooliganism we saw at the SACP and ANC meetings in the North West and Lusikisiki are a replica of Polokwane 2007. Also how the ANC responds to criticism by Kader Asmal, Bishop Tutu, Frene Ginwala proves that civil debate has been eroded in the tripartite alliance. This all started when hooliganism was accepted as a norm at Polokwane. Malema was booed by Nzimande’s adult brigade in the presence of Mantashe. For Cope to stand the test time, it must avoid the mistakes of the ruling party like hooliganism, factionalism, populism, nepotism and corruption. A modern party respects the electorate. Public representatives must undertake constituency work diligently. Most MPs and MPLs service people when elections are close. Cope is obliged by history to uphold governance standards as outlined in Batho Pele. Part of the solution is to have a directly elected president, premiers and mayors.

There is a need to review the implementation of affirmative action and black economic empowerment. With the deployment of Simelane, we must renew the call for the depolitisation of the state. Had the people of South Africa, former ANC cadres not formed Cope, Msholozi and his Polokwane triumphalists would have messed up. Judge John Hlophe would be our chief justice and Minister Sbu Ndebele would have arrogantly accepted his gift. Fearing Cope of making inroads, Nxamalala accommodated Mbeki-ites and abandoned the populism that characterised his election campaign.

If Cope wants to be a serious modern political party, it has to continue attracting trustworthy and transformative, visionary, organic intellectuals and leaders. With local government in the pipeline, Cope must field candidates who have credibility in their communities because this is where the ANC, DA and IFP have betrayed the trust of the electorate. While co-operating with opposition parties, it must work with individuals across the tripartite alliance. Cope must assume the character of both the UDF and civic movement but should avoid becoming an amorphous mass or individuals who do not subscribe to a united, non-racial, non-sexist and corrupt-free society as envisaged in the Freedom Charter.

Siyanda Mhlongo is Cope’s spokesperson in Kwa-ZuluNatal