Cope, ANC policy differences is not the key issue

When Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States of America it suddenly dawned on a lot of people that something wonderful had happened that would transcend the outcome of his term of office. Good, bad or indifferent, Obama’s arrival signalled a quantum leap in race relations and a smashing of glass ceilings across the world.

Indeed, if the world’s hyperpower believed that a black man, the son of a Kenyan immigrant, could ascend to the most powerful position on the planet, what office was beyond the reach or capability of the world’s black community? In years to come historians may well see the fact that Obama was president of the US as more important than anything he achieves during his term of office.

The same thing applies to the formation of the Congress of the People.

While many people are scratching their heads and wondering what the major differences between the policies of Cope and the African National Congress are, I would suggest that in terms of redefining the South African political landscape for the better, it’s actually irrelevant.

Let us say for the sake of this argument that the policies of both parties are actually exactly the same. Instead of Cope looking to distinguish itself from the ANC they adopt the entire manifesto and history of the party they left in toto.

Sceptics, of which I have been one, would say that this is simply a ploy by the Mbeki faction — refusing to accept the decision of the delegates at Polokwane — to reclaim power and their access to the gravy boat. I would have said gravy train but what with us buying all those boats and submarines I figured … but I digress.

In hindsight it is far more important than that and the country is the true beneficiary.

If both parties stand for exactly the same policies but distinguish themselves by their defence of the Constitution, willingness to uphold the principles of the Freedom Charter as later incorporated, their ability to stamp out cronyism and corruption and methods in calling time on racism while reducing poverty then the country is that much richer for the arrival of Cope.

If all that Cope achieves is the creation of a party that out-ANCs the ANC by raising the bar in terms of service delivery and setting benchmarks for acceptable candidates and conduct then that is more important than the differences in their policies. Over the past 15 odd years we have witnessed an ANC — of which most of these Cope members were part — walking straight passed the principles of their party because of the lack of a serious challenge to their majority.

What price the principles and policies of the ANC if nobody concerns themselves with upholding them?

Without doubt election 2009 without Cope and a resurgent Democratic Alliance would have been about the identity of those who would be in pole position to enrich themselves and become part of the elite rather than any desire to implement the policies of the party and defend our fledgling democracy.

The arrival of Cope has changed all that.

The entire focus of both the ANC and Cope is currently on demonstrating to voters how they are the party best suited to defending our Constitution, ridding us of crime and corruption and putting forward the most competent candidates. Seven months ago the Zuma and Mbeki factions were concerned with threatening each other and the electorate if things didn’t go their way. Undoubtedly, it’s a vast improvement.

After the elections we are going to see a government acutely aware that it has Cope and the Democratic Alliance breathing down its neck. Patricia de Lille, Bantu Holomisa the IFP and the Freedom Front are becoming far more vocal and proactive than ever before. This can be attributed to Cope’s reducing the ANC’s aura of invincibility.

In essence, this should translate itself into a government keenly aware of the need to carry out its tasks with diligence and skill or face major losses next election as opposed to an ANC concerned with an internal struggle for power within the party, with governing the country as a necessary aside.

It is the arrival of Cope and what their presence has done to the political landscape which is of paramount importance to our democracy. The differences in policies will widen as time passes but for now the most important thing is that they are here.

God bless South Africa.