Helen Zille, an example to emulate

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

There was an interesting 3-parts feature on CNN about Helen Zille, the leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance in South Africa, and long-time Cape Town mayor. Cape Town is currently the only big city in South Africa governed by a DA-led coalition. The ruling ANC party have been trying to push her aside for ages, using all sort of dirty tricks like re-shaping the election map of the Western Cape province and even relocating thousands of people from the Gauteng province deep in the country to the vicinity of Cape Town. They would stop at nothing to take this stronghold of political diversity and pluralism, and surely the dirty smearing tactics and using outright lies about her are not excluded from their arsenal.

Helen Zille is a great politician, always pragmatic and moderate, and the resilience that she has demonstrated in the face of all that immense pressure can only make one admire her enormously. I am sure she would be by far SA's best president. Sadly, she will never be elected. First because she is white in a predominantly black nation - isn't that ironic? And even her long history of an anti-apartheid fighter will hardly help her.

Of course there have been whites in government here even in the post-apartheid era. Just to mention the great former finance minister Trevor Manuel who is a highly respected politician who many think was responsible for the tremendous economic advancement and stability that the country has seen ever since the end of apartheid. What some had feared might turn into an economic catastrophe for the country was instead turned into an era of prosperity, and South Africans have seen his clever and responsible fiscal policies reflect on the country even today, when SA averted the dip into financial recession that many other countries in the world experienced. Of course the problems of poverty in large portions of the nation are very serious, and let's not forget the problems with education, HIV, and crime...

The second reason Helen Zille does not stand a chance to be universally approved is because since Mandela left office, the grip of the ANC on all institutions, and correlatively corruption, has been growing fast. There was some minor temporary glitch on the last election when a breakaway party named COPE was formed, but we all saw how swiftly the ANC caused havoc amidst its ranks and rendered it largely irrelevant. The fringe formations like the Communist Party on the far-left and the Freedom Front Plus on the right-wing also lack the potential to do anything remarkable, which could be a good thing really. And the legendary Inkatha Freedom party of Mangosuthu Buthelezi is more like a regional power in the KwaZulu-Natal province and lacks the capacity to go beyond the status of a merely ethnic/racial formation, the way the Democratic Alliance truly has done it. Indeed, in her interview (see the 3 videos under the link), Helen Zille explained how her philosophy was to make DA something more than just the party of the whites, to make it transcend its regional character and launch it on a new level. And despite the difficulties she has been working in that direction ever since she took the top party chair.

But ANC's grip on power is truly immense. It may look like SA is becoming less and less a free country: it looks more and more like the majority of other African countries: dominated by a nomenklatura linked to the ruling party, with multiple conflicts of interest and corruption issues, and petty backstage bickering, which gangrenes the nation's resources and economy. We could do a lot better than that. We have enormous economic resource and amazing human potential to do it, but we need a smarter and more responsible governing.

During her tenure as a mayor of Cape Town, and now leader of the DA, Helen Zille has shown that a modest and effective governing is possible when done in a smart way, and when listening to good advice from the people. She has shown that it works on a local level, so it is possible on a national level too. Cape Town is by far the most diverse city, it is a beacon of racial, religious and ethnic tolerance, and it is an example to follow. And Helen Zille has been at the core of this transformation. It doesn't matter that she is on the right-of-center side of the political spectrum, it doesn't matter that she is white, she has shown with her acts both in the past and the present that she is a lady of exceptional integrity and courage, and immense wisdom. We would do good if we tried to emulate her rather than smear her, no matter which side we are on and what our political philosophy might be. She deserves all the respect she could get.

Comments

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's painfully ironic. ANC has drawn a lot of criticism lately because it is slowly turning into what it was fighting against: self-sufficient, over-fed, corrupt autocracy who think they can rest on their old laurels forever. Well they're mistaken. It took a generation to defeat white supremacy, if it'll take another one to defeat black totalitarianism, I'm ready to go for it. Maybe it won't hurt them to hear one or two different opinions especially from inside their own party, and that's what I've been doing at ANCYL, if only at a local level in the university. Every person can make a difference. The "Why should I care, nothing depends on me alone" meme is a fat old stupid lie designed to appease the last remaining resistance instincts a person might have, and turn them into a senseless drone. You've raised some touchy subject which I think is universal and doesn't apply for SA only, so kudos. And btw the Mother City is by far the most beautiful city in the world. Here, I said it... Although the Jozian in me cringed a little. :-)

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

The fact that there are people like you who can ask the questions and furthermore offer answers, people who are not afraid to call their own out on their flaws, and people who are always willing to see the positive side even in the most negative phenomenon, gives me hope that things can be turned around to the better.

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

I don't know about CNN-USA. I saw it on CNN International.

[anadinboy.livejournal.com]

the last news report i saw on sa was blacks smoking their aids medicene lol, not even the most racist , grimest worldview could ever have dreamt up such a thing

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

Yeah but I bet the racist in you rejoiced at the sight.

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

I am sure there was a point you were trying to make somewhere here but it somehow eluded me.

By the way how do you "smoke AIDS medicene[sic]"?

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

It's true. The practice is called Whoonga.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/01/27/yea/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7768059.stm

The rest of his comment, I'm not sure what was it about. Yet another of his racist remarks? Probably. Most of the previous ones were addressed against Muslims so this is something new.

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

I see. Indeed, just because I haven't seen it around my school doesn't mean it is not happening. This is something very dangerous. We need to step up the education efforts with the youngsters. In fact I may include this in some of my next classes. Thanks!

I don't care much what the haters have to say. Let them hate.

[qnetter]

However, the country's Treatment Action Campaign, an AIDS lobbying group, has described the belief that the drugs have recreational value as a "myth."
"We are not even convinced that whoonga contains ARVs. The dealers just say it does," group spokeswoman Caroline Nenguke said.

And, in fact, it's not clear what component of this would be addictive. Certainly the ARVs are not.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

And neither is it the purgative. I don't know. It's an endemic problem which should be addressed ASAP.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

The Gypsies in our ghettos have the habit of "breathing glue" in nylon bags. It's highly addictive. There's something in its compounds. The Gypsy kids are particularly addicted to it. It's their cheaper way of getting high and forgetting about all that misery around them, at least for an hour. What happens to their lungs, I'm not willing to tell...

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Yes, the brain too.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Glue sniffing is a pretty common problem in many places. Petrol sniffing is a problem around these parts.

This is what kids do when they can't get hold of pot...

[anadinboy.livejournal.com]

lighten up mahnmut im only laughing at the outrageousness of the situation.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, it's a massive pet peeve of mine. I've lost too many dear friends to HIV to be able to lighten up.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Where white kids in the USA have pharm parties.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Damn those black kids for not having wealthy, legally drug addicted parents eh.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Pretty much, yes. It's bad either way, but it's a universal variant of human stupidity.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

So essentially the New Boss is becoming the same as the Old Boss?

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

Not as brutal. But yes, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Kind of depressing, no?

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

How do you think?

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I mean that the fall of a totalitarian regime led to it being replaced by a corrupt authoritarian one.

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

Yes, and I think it happened because there was never a democratic tradition in this society. But what is worse is that very little was done to create one ever since.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

I've heard of Helen Zille and the smearing campaign that ANC started around the last elections. But still she emerged victorious in your region so this shows that people are not that stupid. I can see there are many blacks supporting her cause as was seen in this documentary, which is an indication that this transformation process of her party that you're talking about must have been a success. Are you a D.A. supporter btw?

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

Funny but I am not a DA supporter. I could not say that I am a "supporter" of any party in the strict meaning of the word. But several times I have voted for the UDM, a center-left social-democratic formation. They have been losing seats ever since 1999 but they are still represented in the parliament.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Democratic_Movement_%28South_Africa%29

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

It has an anti-separatist, pro-diversity platform; and supports an individualist South Africa with a strong moral sense, in both social and economic senses.

That sounds good.

From what I'm reading it seems the UDM is stealing those disillusioned ANC members who left when Mbeki was deposed of the chairman post. They could resurge on the next elections. 2014, right?

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

UDM still remains one of the main opposition parties although it now gets much less % of the votes than it used to. They have support mostly in the Eastern Cape.

Yes, the next general election will be in 3 years. The nearest election is the municipal elections later this year. DA is growing in more cities beyond Cape Town now, thanks to this transformation. Helen Zille hopes to bring the support for ANC below 50% in my city and also to shake them in Pretoria, Johannesburg and almost the whole Northern Cape. But the most fiercely contested city will be Port Elizabeth because it is on the border between the black dominated and coloured dominated areas. DA also hopes to bring some more center-right parties into a coalition to boost its chances.

Although I am generally ideologically opposed to their agenda I think we need a more vital opposition. Only then will we have a truly democratic society. So I will be crossing fingers for them.