9 February 2009: South Africa – A Nation in a Good State?

On Friday, South African President Kgalema Motlanthe walked the red carpet to open the nation’s legislature. As he shuffled past dignitaries and diplomats, one could almost hear the jingle of keys in his pocket. The President, from a working class background, is little more than a caretaker in a blue overall we are told. He is caught in between the leadership of Thabo Mbeki who left office in September 2008 and Jacob Zuma, who the ruling African National Congress (ANC) expects will be elected President of the country in April 2009. The caretaker is caught in a tussle between two landlords who continue to wrestle for the title deed to the State. The views of the tenants, the people, are too often drowned out in the process.

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It would be foolish to doubt that this power struggle ended when Mbeki exited office. The emergence of the Congress of the People (COPE) has given former Mbeki allies a new political home and some suggest that also gives Mbeki the opportunity to craft the party’s policies from the backroom. Mbeki may not be universally admired by some COPE leaders who want to build an alternative to the ANC in opposition. There are however, former senior technocrats from Mbeki’s civil service, supported by the party rank and file who, it would appear, are awaiting the return of ‘the Chief’. Observe how some COPE leaders shifted uncomfortably when delegates at the inaugural conference in December broke into the umpteenth Mbeki themed struggle song. The subtle message was that the party leadership constituted little more than caretakers of Mbeki’s legacy. If Mbeki will return to reclaim this legacy is likely to be revealed in the months ahead. However his political career suggests that he is loyal to ideas, particularly those which he shapes from his study and which he knows will eventually come to define policy at political jamborees. Far from being sidelined, he seems to be at the real centre of political struggle.

Nobody, the markets included, wants political certainty more than ANC President Jacob Zuma. One had the sense that his Presidential Hummer was left idling throughout Motlanthe’s State of the Nation address on Friday. This was somebody else’s thunder and he needed to hit the campaign trail that he hopes will secure his earlier political victory in Polokwane. He has to show that his face enjoys the support of the ANC electorate by thumping COPE at the polls. However, even if he is to be elected President, the future is full of uncertainties for Zuma. There is the matter of his trial on corruption and tax evasion charges that will see him appear in court again in August. His Presidency will also be hinged on the support he has been provided by a group of patrons in business and politics who see him as the key to unlocking State resources. He may be silently envious of Muammar Gadaffi, newly elected Chaiperson of the African Union and self-appointed ‘King of Kings’. While Gadaffi’s patronage appears to have bought the Kings, the converse may apply to Zuma who is the apparent ‘King’s King’.

Enter the fray, the mild-mannered Motlanthe who, given the political context, delivered a relatively balanced, if not bland, address to Parliament just weeks before the national and provincial elections. However, ordinary South Africans question Motlanthe’s assessment that the “nation is in a good state”. If anything, the political and institutional context suggests the nation and its State is in flux.

Some of the key issues raised by Motlanthe, that require further reflection include:

The Economy: With a global economic crisis looming, the President was thin on detail of how the crisis would be averted. He was possibly leaving his Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel to thrash this out in his budget address this week. It is important that any future discussion of an economic stimulus package (State investment in the economy) needs to ensure that such an intervention is targeted and does not amount to the poor subsidizing debt laden, politically well-connected, companies. The President would have done well to spell this out, particularly given the fact that some of these companies would now be looking to fund election campaigns.
Service Delivery: While the speech was peppered with statistics of how effective poverty alleviation has proven, he was clear that “we still have some way to go”. One of the areas that Motlanthe did not mention by name was the outbreak of cholera in the country. Critics argue he did not dwell enough on why the Health Department has been seemingly unable to prevent a possible collapse in public health care in provinces such as the Free State
Crime and Corruption: Motlanthe was forthright in acknowledging both problems. The repeated mention of corruption must have made some of the Members of Parliament implicated in the Travelgate scam and politicians implicated in the arms deal shift uncomfortably in their seats. However, Motlanthe stopped short of calling for an inquiry into the multi-billion rand arms deal, even as a civil society rally calling for such an inquiry attracted a thousand supporters a few hundred meters from the National Assembly. Another matter which did not receive a word of mention was the xenophobic violence which saw the displacement of tens of thousands of African non-South Africans across the country eight months ago. If there was another issue deserving of public inquiry it is surely this. However, it has been shifted off the public agenda by politicians and the media alike.
The State of Independent Institutions: Despite unprecedented verbal attacks on the judiciary in 2008 and the firing of National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Vusi Pikoli, Motlanthe did not use this important opportunity to address these issues. Instead he used an interview on the public broadcaster on Sunday to defend the independence of the judiciary, describing as ‘unfortunate’ the terms used by politicians to attack the judiciary. There can be little doubt that Motlanthe failed a crucial test in not reappointing Pikoli – thereby leaving the door wide open for the appointment of a new NDPP who may well be inclined to drop charges against Zuma. This is a more likely scenario than immunity from prosecution for a sitting Head of State as is the case in France or Italy. Motlanthe’s short presidential legacy will now be judged on how he handles this process and importantly, that he makes the right noises about the need to guard constitutional democracy, including judicial independence.
National Unity: In singling out various leaders by name Motlanthe was inclusive in his approach in hailing those who had contributed to the country’s freedom including the likes of Mosiou Lekota (COPE leader) and Helen Suzman (liberal opponent of apartheid in the white parliament)

With possibly less than a hundred days in office history may well come to regard Motlanthe as the President who should have been, but never was. However, if anything, Motlanthe represents an ideal that all Presidents should be caretakers and not landlords. Men and women who worship entitlement once elected into office present a profound threat to constitutional democracy. Surely it is far better to have a caretaker, in a blue overall, whose job depends largely on keeping all the tenants satisfied?

Hennie van Vuuren, Head, Corruption and Governance Programme, ISS Cape Town