Obama, COPE and the ANC
blurb:isstoday:01122008obamaanc
1 December 2008: Obama, COPE and the ANC
In the wake of the recent election to the White House of Illinois senator Barack Obama, the nature and scope of news reportage and global excitement confirm that this is a momentous historical event. Not least because Obama will be the first black president of the world’s most powerful nation, but more so because of the sense of hope Obama instills in people, even those outside America.
One of the bravest things about running for the president of the US is that the entire country, led in force by a well-oiled media machine, holds up a magnifying glass on the life and history of the candidates. During the course of the Obama vs McCain campaign, a number of ‘dirty secrets’ were dug up, including the pregnancy of Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter. The US elections certainly are a popularity contest in many ways, and this popularity is determined by whose image is squeakier clean than the others.
While some may argue that this method of political competition is trivial and superficial, perhaps there is some logic to dissecting candidates as people and not merely as political representatives. Is it not reasonable for the electorate to have a holistic perspective of the morality and integrity of their leaders?
In South Africa, there has been much argument by opposition parties that the advent of the Congress of the People (COPE) onto the political landscape will strengthen democracy. But, what is the measure of strength? Is it merely the participation of opposition parties in a National Convention? Or is it the ferment of bad blood between leaders that achieved the liberation of South Africa?
In their interactions, both COPE and the ANC suggest to the electorate that there is not an imperative to play fair. There has been a distinct lack of sportsmanship since the formal split of Africa’s oldest liberation movement. In the culmination of the presidential race, Obama and candidate John McCain showed the world that a prevailing spirit of humility that is gracious and uniting is possible to achieve during fierce political contest. Our own leaders may do well to follow such an example. Leaders on both sides have in recent months failed to treat one other with the respect of sportsmen, playing hard and fair to win a good game. Does it strengthen democracy when the electorate watches from the sidelines as the main players bad-mouth and taunt one other?
In the run-up to the formal launch of the Shikota-led COPE in Bloemfontein on December 16, is it unfair to wonder what antics are still to come? The air of petulance seems increasingly pungent as leaders engage in a war of words and name-calling. The strategy of play was set a few months ago by the public spat in open letters between Former Minister of Defence Mosioua Lekota and Transport Minister Jeff Radebe. More recently, a discourse of insults within the youth leadership has emerged. How is the electorate supposed to view leaders that refer to each other as “snakes”, “baboons” and “cockroaches”?
The scenes of jubilation in Kenya, - Obama’s paternal home - almost exactly a month ago, shows that hope can traverse the boundaries of culture, circumstance and even oceans. The signature phrase “yes we can!” infused the minds and souls of people across the world, in collective chorus. Is it really possible that South Africa’s leaders cannot traverse the gulf that has formed between former comrades, for the good of the people and the broader principles of healthy democratic practice? There seems little evidence of why the finesse of Obamaesque politics cannot be internalized by our leaders, with a little vision and perseverance. Wouldn’t it be a great day for South Africa if, at the culmination of the country’s fourth democratic elections in 2009, we as a collective could shout from the on high, “yes we did!”
Poppie Mphuthing, Researcher, Crime, Justice and Politics Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)
