The rehabilitation of Allan Boesak

If you closed your eyes or, even with open eyes, let your imagination travel a bit, it could have been a scene from a political rally in the 1980s.

Dr Allan Boesak, former United Democratic Front patron, stood triumphantly in front of a crowd in excess of 2 000, holding his hands aloft à la Rocky Balboa after a famous victory, with the crowd chanting “Boesak, Boesak”.

There was even a shout of “Boesak for president” and “Hek toe”, a reference to the time when the University of the Western Cape was a hotbed of political activity and fiery rallies almost inevitably ended in confrontation between police and students at the university’s main entrance.

But it was not the 1980s. In fact, it was Wednesday July 29 2008 and Boesak was speaking at UWC about All, Here and Now: The Politics of Hope or the Politics of Delusion. The event was the fifth Ashley Kriel Memorial Lecture and it was meant to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the UDF, which was founded at Rocklands, Mitchells Plain, on August 20 1983.

The UDF brought together a range of organisations against the apartheid government’s proposed plans to incorporate coloureds and Indians into a system of self-rule. Boesak mooted the idea of a UDF at a Transvaal Indian Congress conference in January 2003.

Kriel was a young Umkhonto weSizwe cadre who was killed by police in Athlone on the Cape Flats in the mid-1980s.

Fanie du Toit, executive director of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, who co-hosted the event with UWC, said Kriel “was a symbol of what was good about South Africa’s youth”. But it was clear from the start that the people had come to listen to Boesak speak more than to pay tribute to Kriel.

There was a feeling of expectation from the minute Boesak entered UWC’s main hall, flanked by new Western Cape Premier Lynne Brown, former ambassador Franklin Sonn, UWC rector Professor Brian O’Connell, Cricket South Africa boss Norman Arendse and a host of other dignitaries.

Earlier, some people in the crowd had tried to start singing freedom songs but it did not quite take off. But when Boesak entered, the familiar chant of “Boesak Boesak” reverberated around the hall.

The song that finally got most people singing was an old struggle favourite, Senzenina (What Have We Done?).

Most of the people in the crowd were middle-aged and, in the words of one man who felt so inspired by Boesak’s speech: “Dr Boesak, you made me feel 25 years younger today.”

It was clear from the questions and comments afterwards that people are longing for leadership.

The first question addressed at Boesak was: “Are you willing to come home?”

Boesak responded that he had never left home, but he did come home sometimes to find the door closed, an obvious reference to his love/hate relationship with the ANC.

Later on, he spoke about some of the personal problems that he had encountered in the past few years, without mentioning any by name. “There were times when only my family stood by me,” he said.

Other questions from the floor dealt with the lack of leadership in South Africa today and the theme that Boesak introduced in his speech, the betrayal of South Africa’s poor.

One person commented on the inclusive nature of Boesak’s speech in which he spoke out against racism, especially racism practised by the ruling ANC.

Of the ANC, he said: “We have fallen in love with ethnicity.”

His speech was probably the closest thing to an honest State of the Nation address that one can expect from a South African leader. It dealt with racism, the need for South Africans to oppose wrongs no matter what their colour or the colour of the alleged perpetrators, and how ordinary South Africans feel betrayed by the government they voted into power.

He spoke about the “anger and frustration” in society and how “the work we started 25 years ago is not yet finished”.

And he made his speech in the presence of the Western Cape’s new premier, ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha and his deputy, Max Ozinsky. Unfortunately, Skwatsha and Ozinsky left mid-way through Boesak’s speech and did not hear the comments from the floor afterwards.

If they had stayed, they would have gotten a sense of how much discomfort exists at the moment among people who traditionally supported the ANC and who are now questioning whether they will vote for the ANC again in the next election.

In some ways, Wednesday night’s meeting was when Allan Boesak finally came home, when his rehabilitation, from a fallen struggle hero to once again a hero of the people, was complete.

I can’t help but think that, if the ANC wants to have any hope of winning the Western Cape in the next election, it will need to call on the help of Allan Boesak. It will be interesting to see how Skwatsha and Ozinsky deal with this problem.