South Africa: Ready to be democratic again
South Africa: Ready to be democratic again
The man behind the Umkhonto We Sizwe struggle song umshini wami (bring my machine) Jacob Zuma has finally left office and resigned as President of South Africa his final words to the people not part of his formal speech “we’ll meet somewhere”. It would be an understatement to say that South Africans released a collective sigh of relief. The not so friendly words of youth on the streets of Johannesburg was evidence of that. It has been a marathon month in South Africa and I doubt that Valentine’s Day will ever from here on in be viewed as a day of love not after the Valentine’s Days that the country has experienced of late.
But the most important thing to remember is that justice albeit longwinded is in the end served with Oscar Pistorius behind bars and Jacob Zuma out of office. The latter as Head of State despite Jessie Duarte Deputy Secretary General of the ANCs best efforts will always be synonymous with the belittling of women’s rights and for the social torment experienced by his accuser Khwezi; for his lavish home Nkandla at the expense of the South African taxpayer and for the fleeting hiring and firing of finance ministers at the expense of the South African economy. He stood at the helm of our ship as ratings agencies bestowed junk status on our economy and the Rand plummeted to record lows.
But today as we await the State of the Nation address by newly elected President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa the events of just two-days ago seems like a fleeting memory Jacob Zuma is already history.
For a few scary moments there it would seem that the rainbow nation would lose all credibly that the freedom we experienced provided by democratic values was all but gone. Being resurrected in such a fashion has been a blessing in disguise but also a rude awakening to how fickle democracy can be. How important it is to protect it, value it and abide by its principles to ensure that it never accidently slips through our fingers.
The true victor in the drama that has unfurled in South Africa was not Cyril Ramaphosa who has been waiting in the wind for the moment to lead the country after being sidelined by the father of our nation Nelson Mandela. It was in fact the organization that is the African National Congress a political movement that has been a part of the tapestry of South Africa for over a hundred years. Despite its members allowing Zexit to drag on unnecessarily in the end the ANC made it clear that no one person is above the needs of the country and its people and no one person can hold an organization founded on democratic principles and putting the needs of the people first ransom.
The corrupt reign of Jacob Zuma should serve as a lesson not only to the South African electorate but to the whole of Africa and beyond that it is the responsibility of every citizen to make sure that democracy is alive and well. Democracy is not the business of political leaders in some far removed place. Voter participation, steady involvement in community affairs is everyone’s business as it is in everyone’s best interest. Leaders should be held accountable and should be seen to lead with “humility, faithfulness and dignity” to quote the newly elected President.
The losses experienced by the ANC over the course of a few years and the strengthening of opposition leaders in the country in the form of the Economic Freedom Fighter’s leader Julius Malema should serve as the warning knell to all leaders across Africa who have become comfortable in their position, who have forgotten that they serve at the behest of the people that democracy can and must triumph and that the people must and will prosper. The quiet coup in Zimbabwe and the ousting of Robert Mugabe serves as even greater evidence of that.
Both these Southern African countries – South Africa and Zimbabwe now look toward the future with a little more confidence, with a little more pride in what it is that they can offer their people, the continent and the world. And people like Zuma and Mugabe will be remembered only as those leaders who once for a brief moment allowed democracy and its tenets to waiver.
Mikhaila Cupido Musoni
Coordinator, African Democracy Forum