Political parties need to put egos aside

Published Aug 17, 2016

Share

IMAGINE there was a wall that you wanted to break down and it turned out that someone you did not particularly like also wanted that wall down.

Would it not be foolish to complain that the wall was down, but it was someone else who felled it?

We are in political coalition season. The season gives South 
African political parties a rare chance to do what they say they were formed for – change South Africa for the better. I could be wrong, but I do not know of any political party that was founded with the intention of it being 
government.

Being in power was the vehicle they would use to achieve the goal they had set for themselves.

Contrary to what some parties might think, the goalposts have not moved. The teams might have changed, but the goal remains the same.

Political parties must be careful not to worry too much about who broke the wall if they are sincere in what they say about their reason for their existence being the breaking down of the wall.

We can expect that political parties would rather seek personal and party glory first and public good second. If they do, they must know that they would probably be wasting a gift history has bestowed to them. Political parties must appreciate that the present political circumstances bring them an opportunity to iron out the wrinkles the 1994 government of national unity could not.

It gives parties an opportunity to work together in the knowledge of what happens when they do not.

In 1994, they worked together because it was the sensible thing for a country in transition to make all constituencies feel they were part of a new country.

In 2016, they must know that the refrain that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, goes beyond the skin colours of those who live here.

South Africa belongs to the wealthy as much as it does to the poor. It belongs to the bosses as much as it belongs to the workers. The landowners and the peasants have equal right to what this beautiful land has to offer.

Coalition governments provide political parties with an opportunity to reflect this complex reality in their policy-making and statecraft. They are an opportunity to recreate that government of national unity of yesteryear, but this time with the benefit of hindsight.

Political power cannot just be about enriching party elites and those close to them. It cannot also be about putting others “in their place” like Tony Leon’s Fight Back campaign. Coalition politics are an opportunity to temper the worst political party instincts.

The electorate has decided that in the economic centres that are the metros, the ANC and the DA in the main, and the EFF to a lesser extent, should set up governments.

If these parties are sincere about being there for the greater good of the people, then they must set aside their own egos and see how best to give meaning to the expressed preferences of the electorate. This is no time to be puritanical about ideologies.

The future of millions of human beings is at stake.

One of the most obvious benefits of a coalition government is that there is a greater chance for clean government because everybody is looking over everybody else’s shoulder.

Heaven knows we need clean government as much as we need rain to break the stubborn drought.

Another benefit of a coalition government is that political parties might be forced to find creative ways to balance the interests of the various classes and interests that make up South Africa.

It helps nobody to demonise the wealthy or wish away the poor.

To ignore the interests of either is to postpone civil strife.

The opportunity before our
political parties requires that
they rise to the occasion. The opportunity for the parties of being in city governments for the first time represents an obligation to show the statesmanship and leadership they have accused the governing party of lacking.

Ultimately, whether coalitions happen and what flavour they take will depend on whether political parties think their reason for being is to wield power as an end in itself or if they want a better society.

If they want a better society and the electorate hopes they do, they would do well to remember that for the poor, the victims of economic and social injustice and the entrepreneurs who want their fair crack at the gamble they are willing to make, the name of the ideology changing their lives for the better will not matter.

All that will matter is that a wall that everyone wanted down is now down.

Related Topics: