The politics of confusion

It seems politics has become nothing but a crusade in confusion, confusing the very same people who voted politicians into office. Politicians get caught up in the fruitless and wasteful game of politicking while bravely maintaining the lie that they are working for our interests.

I must start by saying we need to understand that the system of democracy, like any other “cracy”, is deeply flawed and unfair.

It is disingenuous of political parties to cry foul when they don’t get what they want through a political process when they knew from the beginning that they might not not get what they want, even when they are right. You see, in a democracy the majority rules. Even when they are wrong.

You can’t go into elections and lose, and then somehow expect that the majority party won’t use its majority to pass laws that are in line with its own policies. What would be the point of democracy then?

People play the politics of confusion game as a desperate attempt to obtain public sympathy instead of lobbying the ruling party to see their point of view. Opposition parties have contributed meaningfully towards the country’s governance and have made a number of policy and legislative proposals that are much better suited than those of the ruling party.

One case in point is the Private Member’s Bill recently announced by the DA, which makes very sound proposals on how teachers’ rights to industrial action should be balanced with the children’s right to education. This Bill, if passed into law, will provide much-needed protection of children’s right to education from the reckless and sometimes irresponsible South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) and its members who seemingly go on strike on a random basis at the tiniest sign of disagreement.

This Bill though, will never be passed into law. In fact it won’t even go through the first stages of parliamentary process. Why? Because both the DA and the ANC play the game of confusion and politicking instead of working for the betterment of our country first.

The DA will act as if they have a majority in parliament by submitting the Bill without lobbying for support and seeking contribution from the majority party in Parliament. This doesn’t make sense to an ordinary citizen who knows that the DA will need the ANC to pass any Bill into law because of the ANC’s sheer majority in parliament. Being confrontational and sidelining the majority party leaves you with no hope of success. The DA knows this so one can only conclude that they actually have no interest in getting such a Bill passed in the first instance! Confusing.

The ANC itself as the majority party in Parliament also plays this wasteful game. No matter how sound the Private Member’s Bill submitted by the DA is, it won’t get passed simply because the opposition came up with it. This is ridiculous to say the least. Parties always boast of representing public interest but choose party interest most of the time.

Politicking seems to be more important than actually working to solve challenges facing our country. Both of the biggest parties in Parliament are grossly guilty of this.

It doesn’t end in Parliament though. It is evident in almost every sphere of politics including internal party politics. Political parties seem to think the public doesn’t see through this managed confusion. We do.