With no ANC, it is a very cold, cold world!

It is suspected that the threat or fear of losing position, power, status and material wealth is what could have motivated so-called ANC ‘dissidents’ to jump ship. They must have felt that it is heroic to jump into the deep blue sea rather than to wait to be pushed over to the sharks.

You see, over the last 10 years, we have witnessed the evolution of a new materialist culture that identifies leadership and success through what people have. To be “Somebody”, you must possess all the trappings of success and achievement. Without position, money, status and material wealth, you are nothing.

Thus you can imagine what happens to someone who has grown accustomed to this elite lifestyle who now has to become ‘umuntu nje’ – a Have-Not-Enough. Inevitably, very few people are going to treat you with dignity and respect. Thus it is thought better to pursue a short political route that could lead to some cheesy lifestyle rather than wait for five to ten years with no guarantees.

For some, it is difficult to believe that the so-called ‘dissidents’ are motivated by principle or idealism. In fact, what policy alternative do they provide? The lack of a solid and convincing answer is what has made some people conclude that they are motivated by self-preservation. Thus their actions are interpreted as a desire to hold onto the ‘blue light lifestyle’ and what it offers.

I think it is now an open secret that to be “Somebody” in politics, business and general society, you must have all the things that are offered by power and money. Now, we know that the moment you lose your position in the ANC all these things that supposedly make up success suddenly disappear. Indeed, for many so-called African elite, without the ANC and what it has to offer the world is a very, very cold, cold place! In fact, people who have known you to be Mr Big Shot now soon realise that you have lost it all and have become just another ordinary and simple person. They no longer look at you with awe and wonder but just totally disregarded you because you are no longer wrapped in luxury and comfort.

We have countless stories of mayors, councillors and MECs who not only have committed suicide but experienced disintegration of family. When expelled or suspended by The Party, they are, suddenly, abandoned by spouses, friends, relatives and comrades.
In a way, the so-called ‘dissidents’ may have been plunged into a situation where they are now different and have become a stranger, not only to themselves, but society in general.
They have lost ‘it,’ now.

But they must not fail to try to recreate what they had. You see, after Polokwane all this glory and material success has suddenly been taken away. Or so they think. So, what is happening, now, is that they want to return to what they were and repossess all that they had grown accustomed to: position, power, status and material wealth. They know that society is going to treat them differently now that they do not have all these things.
People will demand to know “who they are” when they mean “what do they have to offer.”

In fact, there are a lot of people out there who will be suspicious of these ‘dissidents.’
After all, they are no longer what the people have known them to be; that is, symbols of achievement!

This is an age where leadership and success are defined by what you have rather than the content of your character. It is, indeed, a big problem because many of the people who think they are leaders are not leaders because of what they stand for but because of what they have. Now, suddenly, the people can see that the ‘dissidents’ have now fallen off the pedestal and have got nothing. It is going to be difficult for society to accept them for what they claim to be or represent when all along they have defined themselves through what they have.

In fact, it is going to be a long, hard slog to regain the confidence of general society, especially “the people”, or build a new party in a materialist world. It will be no easy road to build a grassroots-based following. Instead, it will just be easy for their critics and rivals to dismiss them as ‘sore losers’ or people who want to hold on to power forever.

However, tomorrow is a mystery and we are, indeed, a miracle nation. Perhaps we should wait and see. Only time will tell and history will judge.

But those who know say if you don’t know ANC history you are bound to make the same mistakes. They insist that when you have no ANC support, you face a very cold and hostile world.