South African political leaders who have broken away from the African National Congress (ANC) in the ruling party's biggest split in half a century are to form a new party – probably to be called the Congress of the People (COPE) – next month. Zubeida Jaffer, who has covered South Africa's liberation movements since the early 1980s, reports on a recent meeting which was held to discuss the move.
The atmosphere at the recent national convention in Johannesburg called by leaders who have broken away from the African National Congress was festive. Small South African flags, placed on the chairs in the hall, were waved about happily. Young people wore yellow T-shirts with the word "Volunteer" printed in large letters across their backs. They were polite and courteous and many said they had never been part of a political organisation.
All around were smiling, happy faces, as if the crowd was part of an evangelical church gathering. When a priest delivered the opening prayers, a few cries of "Oh Jesus" and "Hallelujah" rose from the audience. The organisers pegged official attendance at 6,300, based on registration figures.
What exactly was happening was unclear. Were people so happy because they had stood up in defence of Thabo Mbeki, the president forced out in September by the ANC's leadership? Or was it because this was a chance for them to have access to power? Or because they could express their pent-up political frustrations?
Interviews with members of the crowd gave some clues. Some had quietly supported the ANC over many years, had wished for its success without being members and were now disappointed in the organisation for various reasons. Others had come as members of ANC branches that had broken away because they no longer felt their voices were heard.
Then there were those who came from opposition parties which felt the convention offered a space for South Africans to speak together and potentially to hear one another, as they so often failed to do in Parliament. Interestingly, common to most of those interviewed was the offence they took at the controversial utterances of Julius Malema, the ANC Youth League president.
A number of women who were ANC voters said that they were being challenged by their sons and daughters to explain how they could support a party that allowed a young man to be disrespectful to their elders. They also did not know how to explain to their adult children why they would vote for somebody who was promiscuous – an obvious reference to ANC president Jacob Zuma, who defeated Mbeki in a leadership contest at its national conference last December.
Listening to the delegates representing each province, it emerged that there was great concern about joblessness, crime, poor health services and poor education. At the same time, there was deep concern about morality, good leadership and decent, respectful conduct.
There was also a call for a reorganisation of the electoral system to allow citizens to elect their leaders directly rather than through party lists. A cynic could argue that this suited the leaders of the convention since it would allow for the possibility that one of them could in the future contest the presidential elections. But there was no doubt that this call resonated strongly at the convention, with many no longer feeling connected to those whom they had elected into power.
Compared to the ANC's conference, where tensions ran high, this was a gathering of like-minded individuals largely motivated by a desire for change. Guest speaker Barney Pityana – vice-chancellor of the University of South Africa – perhaps best captured the driving force present when he said: "Deep down our people seek peace and strive for the affirmation of their humanity."
The crowd spontaneously sang "Happy birthday" when they heard it was the 80th birthday of Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party. When Nils Flaaten from the Western Cape province, disclosed that it was his birthday, the crowd also sang for him.
The superficial discussions at the convention gave little indication of how the initiative would offer a fresh approach to the enormous challenges South Africans face. There were, however, some important indicators of the convention's direction:
• A new party will be launched on December 16 to contest next year's election;
• The party will lobby for electoral change;
• It will place strong emphasis on reaffirming the family and encouraging ethical and respectful conduct;
• It will campaign for the Constitution to be respected; and
• It will direct its appeal to the youth across the racial divide.
The proof of the pudding, however, will be in the eating. The proceedings placed on display potentially serious difficulties that the grouping will have to overcome.
Most of those on its preparatory committee do not have a history of working closely together. They share in common their past membership of the ANC but that is about all. The only two who have been in a close working relationship are former defence minister Mosiuoa "Terror" Lekota – whose name and face featured most frequently in the run-up to the convention – and his former deputy, Mluleki George.
The convention's other most prominent leader, Mbhazima Shilowa, is a former premier of the Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg. From the Western Cape, Hilda Ndude is an activist-turned-businesswoman. Anele Mda from the Eastern Cape is a young woman who works as a personal assistant to an Eastern Cape youth commissioner. Phillip Dexter is the former treasurer of the South African Communist Party. Willie Madisha is a former president of the Confederation of South African Trade Unions, and Lyndall Shope-Mafole is a former activist and a civil servant.
The strength of the convention's leaders lies in the diversity of their ethnic backgrounds. But the challenge they face will be to give substance to the feelings of hope they have engendered by bringing so many people together, and it is too early to tell whether their efforts will change the political landscape or whether they will dwindle into just another small opposition party.
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Shilowa's declaration at the close of the meeting that they are ready to win the next elections cannot be taken seriously. Most other leaders – notably 1980s Eastern Cape activists Thozamile Botha and Mkhuseli Jack, and Danile Landingwe from the Western Cape – were far more realistic. They admitted it would be a hard slog to build a new party and said their immediate goal was to create an opposition to the ANC as a means of placing pressure on the direction it takes.
However weakly organised the new grouping might turn out to be, there is a good chance that South Africans will give it their protest vote. The ANC will be under pressure to abandon positions and conduct that do not resonate with large numbers of South Africans. If the party chooses to use this unexpected turn of events to recognise fully the feelings of alienation that have emerged, and respond to these creatively, it may yet undermine those who have broken away.
But thus far the ANC has failed to understand that this new movement is not just a group of angry people chasing government posts. Moreover, by calling the new movement "counter-revolutionary" and "the black DA" [the Democratic Alliance, the white-led opposition in Parliament], the ANC may unleash the groundswell of disappointment and anger that is definitely simmering below the surface among its supporters.
The new movement comprises a group of leaders who have correctly read the signs of the times in South Africa. It is this more than anything else that will pose the greatest challenge to the ANC.
This article was adapted from a report on Zubeida Jaffer's blog, where her other reporting can be found.
