First things first, concepts and definitions matter.
In that spirit, this current composition of government is what is
known as a grand coalition, as there was no political instability,
no conflict or war, nor any transition from one form of regime to
another (e.g. a change from authoritarian apartheid to democracy).
Those sympathetic to the marriage of inconvenience can refer to it
as a government of national unity (hereafter GNU) until the cows
come home, but that does not make it so. Allow me to add that I
fully expect the “GNU Dawn” to bow out with less of a whimper
than its predecessor from the glory days of Ramaphoria.
I read an article by Mosibudi Mangena titled: Will the GNU be
another bandage?, and while I don’t disagree with much of what
uBab Mangena says, the question about the figurative ‘bandage’ is
moot — as it has already been answered, emphatically, by the real
GNU of 1994. Unlike many thought leaders in the commentariat, I
do not believe there to be a ‘divergence in ideology’ between the
main actors of the so-called GNU, namely, the African National
Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA); both are
fiercely anti-Black, pro-capitalist, neoliberal right wing
organisations. Another big player within white power’s grand
coalition, the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), is situated even further to
the right of the political spectrum. A slave owner who ensures his
slaves are fed enough to work the next day cannot be said to be
acting out of benevolence…
The crucial question, according to Mangena, is “whether the GNU
could cure South Africa of its fundamental fault line, which is the
poverty of the majority Blacks, and the immense wealth of the
white minority,” and well, the ANC, which at one point enjoyed a
near two-thirds majority in Parliament, would often lament the
resistance to its transformative policies and legislation emanating
from the white power nexus of opposition parties in Parliament,
the white-owned media, as well as big business (SA inc.). One can
only wonder why, after losing a whopping seventeen(17)
percentage points in the recent general elections, this limping
former giant of African liberation politics chose to coalesce with
the very same forces it accused of stifling progress! President
Cyril Ramaphosa said in one of his speeches that “South Africans
were defined by hope and resilience,” the belief (or hope) that this
iteration of GNU will fare better than the original mishmash
reconciliatory pacifier of Mandela is folly.
Back in 1994, the ANC committed to transferring thirty (30)
percent of land to Africans who were dispossessed by centuries of
colonialism and apartheid, yet recent studies show that a paltry 4%
of land has been restored to its rightful owners. The mineral
wealth that lies beneath the soil continues to benefit a well
resourced (read: white) minority, and the spoils of democracy have
not accrued to the African majority, who constitute over eighty
(80) percent of the population. The DA faction of the GNU
recently announced its opposition to the amendment of Section 25
of The Constitution to allow for Expropriation Without
Compensation… affirming once again whose interests they serve.
If we continue to delude ourselves with euphemisms such as GNU
or Rainbow Nation instead of dealing with the proverbial elephant
in the room, the powder keg that is landlessness will eventually
erupt, engulfing us all in the ensuing chaos. Land first, the rest
shall follow, because as Malcolm X teaches us, “revolution is
based on land.”
Peace and Black Power.