A+thousand+flowers+in+full+bloom,+Sipho+Seepe,+Business+Day

Business Day, Johannesburg, 05 July 2006
=A thousand flowers in full bloom=


 * Sipho Seepe**

AS ONE of those who have long earned the wrath of the African National Congress (ANC) government’s sympathisers, I should be excited about the ongoing saga around the SABC’s blacklist. It comes at a time when some of us are hopeful about the political turn of events, and blacklisting is reminiscent of the intolerance of yesteryear. Covering the closing of the ANC national general council (NGC) in 2000, reporter Angela Quintal wrote: “President Thabo Mbeki has attacked certain black intellectuals who are critical of his ruling ANC, saying they masquerade as political commentators. He did not name anyone but it was clear that he was referring to, among others, Sipho Seepe, Mashupye Kgaphola and Thandwa Mthembu, who have written articles in City Press critical of Mbeki and the ANC. On Friday night, Seepe blasted Mbeki in a TV interview. He told SABC that the president should lead by example when it came to eradicating corruption.”

At the time, we raised concerns around centralisation of power and HIV/AIDS, and questioned government’s handling of Zimbabwe long before it had become fashionable.

We suggested that centralisation of power would lead to centralisation of thought. Our concern was that this would undermine democracy and introduce a new form of careerism in which commitment would be measured by the degree to which one ingratiated oneself with power.

We cautioned that, with power centralised, members of the ANC would be reduced to being mere parrots of the centre. We encouraged public debate when the ANC had raised the notion of internal debate to a value and a principle.

We raised these issues before their folly became obvious. We felt that such a political arrangement was fertile ground for dictatorship. In taking these positions, we invited all sorts of attacks. We had aspersions cast on our educational competence for merely raising questions about political developments within the ANC. From then on, it became open season on some of us. Those who took similar positions faced ridicule and marginalisation.

As was to be expected, a new generation of so-called balanced commentators was introduced. These commentators understood their role. For these individuals, objectivity meant finding something positive to say about government. But you can go only so far in singing praises.

Having said this, there is something unseemly about the present hullabaloo around the blacklist. First, the hysteria is unrestrained. To suggest that a marginalisation of a few is proof of totalitarianism or a slide towards dictatorship is exaggerated and smacks of delusions of grandeur by those targeted, present company included. The experiences of the likes of Mathatha Tsedu, Joe Thloloe, Barney Mthombothi and others are now commonplace. Yet none of them has ever suggested that their departure from the SABC amounted to a threat to SA’s democracy. They considered the ideological differences they had with the SABC mandarins to be simply that — and nothing more.

Understandably, no clear instruction need come from government. The machinery is well-oiled. Those deployed understand the game. The strategy ought to be to rally against political deployments and the appointment of incompetent individuals. But those who are accustomed to the politics of patronage know that their answer is to celebrate mediocrity and to turn a blind eye against real courage of conviction.

The print media has, understandably, been vocal since the blacklist was published. Yet, it is also far from being a custodian of objectivity. Articles are rejected or put on ice not because they are weak or without merit, but because some editors want to curry favour with certain interest groups, including those in power.

Claims of the country sliding towards dictatorship are not supported by facts. For one, they contrast sharply with the apparent erosion of Mbeki’s political authority within the ANC. Thanks to Jacob Zuma’s travails with the law, we are witness to the unravelling of the artificial and enforced unity of the ANC. Not so long ago, it was unimaginable for Mbeki to be the object of ridicule within the ANC — assuming Zuma supporters are ANC members.

Mthombothi put it bluntly in the Financial Mail in October last year:

“There was a time not long ago when President Thabo Mbeki’s Friday column was required reading. It didn’t matter what the subject was or whether we agreed with him. These were the views of the country’s first citizen and we had to sit up and listen. Not anymore, it seems … the bloodletting in the ANC has damaged Mbeki. A year ago it would have been unthinkable for (Congress of South African Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi) to use such language to excoriate Mbeki on so sensitive a subject. On current form, Cosatu and not the ANC is the best- organised political force in the country. The ANC has the appearance of a rabble — confused and leaderless. State power helps give it an air of organisation. Vavi can speak for Cosatu; Mbeki’s writ doesn’t run freely within the ANC.”

If anything, instead of totalitarianism, we have seen boldness on the part of alliance members questioning the centre. The NGC rejected some proposals advanced by the ruling elite. ANC and alliance members have called for a revisit the president having the prerogative to appoint provincial premiers.

We have seen the ANC Youth League boldly and publicly asserting its position. It has challenged any inclination that suggests an attempt by some to prolong their stay in power. Both Cosatu and the South African Communist Party (SACP) have reclaimed their voice. Gone are the days when Mbeki used to level spurious accusations against rivals. Instead, in the eyes of the alliance, he comes out as the accused.

Instead of suppression of views, the country is inundated with discussion documents on how to promote democracy and reduce state power located in the Presidency. The ANC has dispensed with the notion of internal debates. Responding to the SACP, the ANC has “sought to generate further debate within the alliance and society... We hope that we have met the SACP general secretary’s injunction that, in this debate, there should be no holy cows”.

Meantime, the president’s approval rating continues to soar with close to 70% of South Africans giving his leadership the thumbs up.

I do not see a dictatorship. Newspapers are filled with letter writers of all persuasions. Talk shows are jammed with callers. I see a flowering of democracy. The events at the SABC call for introspection by all — from newspaper editors, commentators and the public broadcaster alike.


 * Prof Seepe is academic director of Henley Management College.


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/opinion.aspx?ID=BD4A226949**

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