Unity is the mantra of every politician, whether inspired by well-meaning intentions or purely populist rhetoric and self-serving interests, it is a constant refrain. A united country seldom serves the immediate populist interests of holders of public office. When all of us are unified by common interests, populists lose an effective weapon to use in their charge against the imagined enemy of the people. Populists often portray themselves as standing shoulder to shoulder with the poor, rural masses and petty bourgeoisie; all united against the thuggery of capitalism. During apartheid, it was the struggle of blacks, who are poor, against the system of apartheid, which was white and resourceful.
The nature and structure of our society is that the poor are predominantly black and the rich, white. These are structural faults of society that are exploited by populists in the pursuit of their political agenda. For as long as these exist, populists carry with them a weapon they can wield unashamedly and with unapologetic determination against the imagined enemy.
The African National Congress (ANC) had championed reconciliation after 1994 and Nelson Mandela was explicit that forgiving the atrocities committed against the oppressed masses was never to be accompanied by us forgetting the pain we were subjected to, or pretend to ignore the scars in our bodies, mind and soul that reminded us of the past. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission came and went and the young nation got to work to lay the foundations for a brighter future to what we had all imagined it to be.
The nation was unified by common purpose and those who saw themselves not part of the solution opted for life in the wilderness. Unity demanded that all of us, regardless of our economic class, social background, culture and colour of our skin, work together towards attaining a common ideal and holding one another accountable when we falter in full knowledge that ours is the responsibility — imposed on us by an unflattering history — to write a new chapter.
The ANC has been saying that “working together we can do more” and South Africans can assume that it is a noble statement not intended only for members and supporters of the ANC but for all of us, black and white, regardless of our political affiliations. During the campaign trail Jacob Zuma said, “This is the time to intensify the fight for a truly united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa”. Populists are prone to lofty ideals, which they generally have no intention of working towards and realising. The measure of a good leader is he whose words almost perfectly reconcile with his deeds.
After his victory in Polokwane, Zuma stressed the importance of party unity. But the conduct of ANC leaders and the events that unfolded in the period leading up to the 2009 general elections contradicted with this message of unity. The vitriolic attacks and insults on the former president and a stalwart of the ANC, Thabo Mbeki, by Fikile Mbalula, the ANC head of organising and campaigns, also served to contradict this message of unity. How do we place full trust in the ANC leaders to unify the country if they have not demonstrated a commitment to unify their party and heal the pre-Polokwane rifts? How do we trust them to heal the racial divides in the country when Mbalula still accuses whites, who did not vote ANC, of being racist?
In his election victory speech, Zuma went on to say, “To those South Africans who did not vote for the ANC, we will form a government that takes care of your needs to the best of our ability. Working together we will make it a government for all South Africans”. These are noble intentions but judging by the infantile utterances of certain ANC leaders and lack of reprimand, they are merely disingenuous. It is these leaders who fail to grasp that unity is premised on the notion that in all things social we can be many fingers and one as a hand. British author Samuel Johnson said that, “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”. Perhaps in our instance, unity is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Have we reached a point where we can without hesitation proclaim to love our country not because it is great but because it is our own? US President Barack Obama said: “I love this country not because it’s perfect but because we’ve always been able to move it closer to perfection. Because through revolution and slavery … generations of Americans have shown their love of country by struggling and sacrificing and risking their lives to bring us that much closer to our founding promise.” As South Africans we share common enthusiasm about our beloved country but suffer the betrayal of leadership. It is imperative that all of us refrain from propagating mutual suspicions, that we amend the structural faults of our society and nurture a common patriotism.
In 2003, Mbeki told parliament that, “there is need to evolve that new patriotism because as an abnormal society we could never have a common patriotism, because the structural faults of our society continue to impede the fulfilment of the hopes we all share…”
As long as we as a society continue to condone populism, which fails to understand differences and fails to understand that there is unity in diversity, that diversity demands respect for and promotion of those freedoms of association and expression by all, then we are doomed. Let us not be narrowly united in order to pit some against others who are believed to be useful opponents in promoting a particular political agenda. Greater unity of all South Africans is a prime requisite in progressing towards a prosperous future.
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