Joel Netshitenzhe
Article: Letter from Tshwane
29 December 2000
Is there goodwill in politics?
It
is the Season of Goodwill, and we are constantly
reminded of those things that give us warm
feelings.
Whatever
our beliefs, this forms part of our continuous
struggle to be better human beings and to
face difficulties with a positive and caring
attitude. But we are also warned to respect
the limits of indulgence.
Now,
on broader questions of nationhood and statehood,
how do we celebrate our being? Are there
parameters we should respect?
This
should be informed by the keystones of our
founding settlement: firstly, a Constitution
which sets out freedoms and responsibilities;
secondly, a sovereign state which derives
its legitimacy from the people; and thirdly,
a tacit understanding throughout the negotiations,
that both sides would seek to bring their
constituencies to the appreciation of those
things that would make the founding settlement
endure, primarily organised social change.
Reflections on this issue, here in Tshwane,
were occasioned by a noticeable trend in
the politics of the Democratic Alliance
(DA). It is a trend that manifests itself
in content and tone, directed at the very
core of South African statehood.
Some
two weeks ago, Chief of SANDF, General Siphiwe
Nyanda suggested that the peace mission
to the DRC would have to include armed troops
to protect the peacekeepers. This suggestion,
responded a spokesperson of the DA in haste,
was "rash" and "ill-considered".
1
The
substance of the issue aside, if the head
of an institution, which is charged with
protecting the state makes rash and ill-considered
decisions, where does that leave the country!
What
goes to the core of Tshwane’s apprehension
is that a few weeks before that, the DA
leadership held a special meeting of "war
veterans" – former officers of
the erstwhile South African Defence Force
(SADF) – where matters of the defence
budget, right-sizing and arms procurement
were discussed.2
Contrast this with the attitude towards
the chief of the new SANDF, and alarm bells
start to ring.
The
same attitude showed, in the DA’s statement
on President Thabo Mbeki’s explanation
during his visit to Brazil of progress in
the work of the International AIDS Panel:
how far they were, what questions they were
addressing and when the report would be
ready. Every time Mbeki made a statement
on this topic, said a DA spokesperson in
haste, he put his foot deeper in his mouth!3
Again,
one can debate the substance, but it’s
the tone and the venom that startle. Worse
still, the DA’s actions on this front
bring to the fore their attitude to this
government’s legitimacy.
Remember
the trip to Europe by Tony Leon and Nick
Koornhof, to confer with pharmaceutical
companies and UN bodies on HIV/AIDS drugs?
In Geneva they wanted the SA Head of Mission
to arrange meetings with the World Health
Organisation and UNAIDS. In the event, the
Department of Foreign Affairs had to turn
down the request in order not to promote
what they considered to be a partisan election
gimmick.
What
is striking is that the DA emissaries had
not consulted the Minister or Department
of Health (of all of South Africa, by the
way), or of Foreign Affairs. The saga seems
to have ended with the letter from the Executive
Director of UNAIDS, saying that "UNAIDS
needs to be in contact with and respect
the policies of national governments …It
is not open to [UN agencies] to bypass central
government…"4
In
other words, the DA leadership had to be
reminded from Geneva, by a foreigner, that
they are part of this South African state,
and should respect their elected national
government.
Add
to this, gross misrepresentations, by DA
Leader, on the allocation of SANDF medical
personnel to protect the President and Deputy
President5, and his speeches abroad which include motivation
against investment6,
and Tshwane feels justified in its anxiety.
Not to mention Leon’s letter to the
London Financial Times in May, in which
he says: "President Thabo Mbeki of
South Africa and the ANC’s strategy
towards the Zimbabwean situation remains
confused".7
Add
all these things up, and you start to wonder
whether South Africa’s Official Opposition
considers itself, legitimately, as an alternative
to the ruling party; or whether it is setting
itself up as a State apart, a guardian of
an alternative sovereignty!
One
might dismiss this as the effect of inexperience.
But when it’s consistent and calculated,
and done to generate a similar attitude
within the white community, then more than
jingle bells start ringing.
Search
in other democracies for this kind of attitude,
and you will realise that, even in politics,
there are limits to indulgence!
Joel
Netshitenzhe
CEO, GCIS
Issued by Government
Communication and
Information System
(GCIS)
Published
in Independent Newspapers
1
Deployment of SA troops in DRC rash –
DA: South African Press Association, 13/12/00
(Story 611764)
2
Arms deal probe ‘crucial test’,
and Funding crisis for SANDF – analyst:
The Star, 16/11/00
3
Mbeki’s HIV/AIDS remark astonishes
DA: The Citizen, 16/12/00
4
Letter from Executive Director of UNAIDS
to Mr Nick Koornhof, 30/11/00
5
Statement by DG of the Presidency, 14/11/00
6
Speech by Tony Leon to the US-SA Business
Council, 14/09/00
7
Financial Times: Letter to the editor from
Tony Leon, 24/05/00
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