To steer away from the abyss, we need the kind of political moment that ousted Trump
The election results from the US have given democracy-loving citizens across the world renewed hope. Here we coin the phrase “a Biden moment” — the way societies can be saved from the brink of collapse through an awakening of political consciousness that spurs citizens to meaningful action for social change. There is no doubt that a critical mass remains an important ingredient for transformation to be achieved, especially in the political landscape.
It remains unclear how far the incumbent Donald Trump will resist the wind of change that seeks to usher him out of the White House. Abhorrent leaders are often courageous, defiant and foolishly audacious to the detriment of their countries. The US is in for a turbulent ride between now and January 20when the new president is due to be sworn in.
In political science circles, there is concern about rising global nationalism — politics that are inward looking, with little time for multilateralism (read solidarity). This phenomenon has been in the making for more than a decade. We witnessed the rise of Euroscepticism in 2008/2009, when parties of this bent began to make notable electoral gains. They even won seats to the European Parliament in furtherance of their opposition to that institution.
Proponents of contemporary nationalism propose protectionist economic policies and tend to view foreign nationals in their countries as partly to blame for their socio-economic challenges. The emergence of people such as Trump, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Narendra Modi in India and Boris Johnson in the UK, to name a few, has fuelled the belief that globally nationalism is on the rise.
Trump’s tenure has exacerbated the illtreatment of minority groups, misogyny, bigotry, racism and actions detrimental to those who oppose his brand of politics. Right-wing formations pranced around with renewed confidence while black American communities remained in perpetual fear of police brutality.
Trump’s politics reverberated around the world, emboldening even AfriForum here in SA. In August 2018, AfriForum embarked on a pilgrimage to the land of Trump, their supreme leader and most revered advocate of their brand of politics. Trump responded in the way he knows best, tweeting: “I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the SA land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large-scale killing of farmers.”
The tweet came after Fox News reported on AfriForum’s claims that the ANC government is seizing land from white farmers. This brand of politics thrives on innuendo, fakery, dramatic claims and hype devoid of any truth.
AfriForum celebrated the attention it received from Trump as though he would sign an executive order addressing its claims, filled with untruths. AfriForum’s hubris became a rallying point for right-wing politics in SA leading to the 2019 general elections. The result was that the Freedom Front Plus outperformed its ambitions and more than doubled its seats in the National Assembly to 10, compared with four previously. This sparked panic in the DA.
In the 2019 elections, the DA lost five seats in the assembly. The party concluded that this poor showing was due to the alienation of its core constituency — predominantly white communities. How to solve the problem? The DA decided to walk back on its “commitment” to a transformative agenda in which some black leaders emerged, and diversity (particularly racial diversity) was robustly debated.
The retreat from transformation was consolidated at the DA’s recent national congress where six whites were elected to the top nine posts, and seven of the nine were men. The congress took a resolution to declare farm murders as hate crime. Soon after the congress, the DA announced that it would push for the rethinking of language policy at Stellenbosch University in a bid to have Afrikaans returned to prominence. You will be forgiven for thinking the DA is stealing AfriForum’s advocacy agenda.
There is a consolidation of right-wing nationalism politics in SA across civil organisations and political parties. Is this enough to spark a Biden moment in SA? Unfortunately not. We need a different moment, one where citizens build a critical mass against the malfeasance of the ANC
and its poor management of the state.
Evidence before the Zondo commission and the investigations of law enforcement agencies reveal an organisation that has become reliant on patronage networks, greased by corrupt and unethical conduct, for survival. The ANC is no longer a dream deferred; it has become SA’s nightmare, with some in its ranks stealing money meant for life-or-death equipment during the arduous battle against Covid-19.
A Biden moment succeeds best when there is a common cause around which all democracyloving citizens can coalesce. SA presents a fragmented political landscape in which citizens must fight vigorously against the governance mediocrity of the ANC while ensuring a pushback against the consolidation of right-wing nationalism.
The journey towards the 2021 local government elections and the 2024 national and provincial elections is going to need resilient, visionary and agile young leaders who will be able to influence the political landscape to achieve a breakthrough moment for SA. If this does not happen, our country’s descent into the abyss will continue unabated.
The ANC is no longer a dream deferred; it has become
SA’s nightmare, with some stealing [Covid-19] money