Dr Allan Boesak
Last week, at a media conference in Upington, I said that it was never clearer to me how little difference there is between the PW Botha regime and that of Mr Cyril Ramaphosa. Many, in the media and on social media expressed outrage or shock.
How could I say that there is no difference between South Africa today, and apartheid South Africa? That is not what I said and it is a lazy, politically-inspired generalisation. For my generation, which is also that of the president, “the apartheid regime” will always be most closely connected to the name of PW Botha. He was the one in charge when our generation fought the struggle – not Strijdom, Verwoerd, or Vorster.
If one thinks about it, the similarities between the old apartheid regime, most pertinently represented by P W Botha, and the Ramaphosa regime are quite startling, but the most distressing experience I had last Tuesday morning at the Upington Correctional Centre is the main reason that made me draw the analogy. I happened to be in Upington that weekend, at the invitation of some schools and churches. When the Minister invited me to accompany her, I gladly did.
When it became clear that Minister Sisulu would not be allowed entry into the prison, despite having made the arrangements for the necessary permission, I requested entry as a minister of the Gospel and a pastor in order that I, as is my duty and the call of the Gospel, might have the opportunity to pray for Mr Block. I was expressly denied. I found that deeply distressing. The last time the church was prohibited to pray for those in prison was in the 1980s, under the rule of P W Botha.
I think that is not only unconstitutional, it is a deliberate effort to curtail and control the work of the Church of Jesus Christ, for political gain. It is the State overriding the Word of God. It is a direct challenge to the authority of God and the most fundamental belief of the church, namely that Jesus Christ alone is Lord. There is no other authority on earth above his, and the church’s greatest obedience and highest loyalty are owed to him. Because of this belief, the church has fiercely resisted the apartheid regime and will do so again, whenever and wherever this challenge arises.
Already in 1979, in an open letter to Justice Minister Alwyn Schlebusch, I told the apartheid regime so. So, standing outside those closed gates, I prayed anyway.
But there are some other similarities that should be a cause of deep concern for all South Africans.
1. One of the most scandalous characteristics of the apartheid regime were the socio-economic inequalities that wracked South African society and especially the lives of the poor. Today, under Mr Ramaphosa, South Africa is the country with the greatest socio-economic inequalities in the world, which means the scandal has not only continued, it has become greater.
2. Apartheid’s dogged pursuit of capitalism, together with its inbuilt racism, was one of the greatest causes of these inequalities, and of the generational impoverishment of the masses of South Africa’s people. Under Mr Ramaphosa, the single-minded pursuit of neo-liberal capitalism has continued, and exacerbated, the generational impoverishment of the Black masses of South Africa.
3. Under apartheid, government ministers, his generals and police regarded themselves not accountable to parliament or the people since their majority was assured, but also because of the arrogance and the belief that they were above the law, too powerful to be held to account, and therefore untouchable. Today, under Mr Ramaphosa, and with the president as one of the greatest offenders, accountability to parliament and the general public is non-existent. Those who question his untouchability, those who, as part of their constitutional responsibility, make an effort to call him to account, like parliamentary committee member Mr Mervyn Dirks, or the Public Protector, Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane, are either suspended or fired outright. Such authoritarian and unconstitutional behaviour seems to have become Mr Ramaphosa’s stock-in-trade. Impunity, not constitutional faithfulness, is their body armour.
4. During apartheid rule, the courts and the judicial system were blatant instruments of authoritarianism and selective justice. The result was a unique form of legalised lawlessness. They were profoundly distrusted. That judicial selectivity, making a mockery of justice, always resulting in new forms of injustice, has become a hallmark of Mr Ramaphosa’s rule in South Africa. So has the concomitant and growing mistrust of the public in South Africa’s judicial systems and structures.
5. Under Mr P W Botha, even the most ardent apartheid supporters among the white economic and business elites could no longer deny that South Africa has become a pariah state, heading towards a failed state. Today, even some of the most ardent supporters of Mr Ramaphosa among the economic and political elites are sounding the alarm: South Africa is fast becoming, not just a pariah state, but a failed state.
6. Under the darkening cloud of his “Rubicon”, when everyone could see that PW Botha’s stubbornness was doing grave harm, not only to his political party, but to the country as a whole, his arrogance did not permit him to see this, to put the interests of the country first and resign. Instead, he clung on, refusing to see how his personal crisis has become the country’s crisis, making the harm infinitely greater. P W Botha was not prepared to understand or accept the erosion of his legitimacy and authority. Mr Ramaphosa’s Rubicon is much more serious, the harm he is doing to the ANC is incalculable, the harm to the country and our people is indescribable. Unlike PW Botha, who thought that as long as those racist South Africans who benefited from apartheid continued to back him he was all right, Mr Ramaphosa seems to believe that as long as those discredited leaders of the West back him as their chosen instrument for our continued subjection, he is safe. Both of them completely disregard the cries and the anger of the vast majority of our people at home. He still believes that it is Joe Biden, or King Charles, or the G-7 who will keep him in power. Like PW Botha, Cyril Ramaphosa does not understand, and completely underestimates, the power of the love of the people for freedom, justice, and dignity. PW Botha thought world opinion did not matter.
Cyril Ramaphosa thinks that the legitimate expectations of his people do not matter. The thought processes here are opposite, but the effect is the same. How tragic is it when the pat on the back from Great White Leaders is what you long for, but the love of your people is what you lose? So in his arrogance and hubris he refuses to abide by the rules of his own party to step aside. Neither is he able to do the right and decent thing, namely to resign, to give the ANC some breathing space, and the country a fighting chance at survival. Even Boris Johnson and Liz Truss understood this better.
7. There is, though, a great, and much more consequential, difference between the PW Botha regime and that of Cyril Ramaphosa. Under apartheid, South Africa had a sham, racist constitution that served only the interests of white South Africa. In that regard, it can be argued that PW Botha was a faithful servant of that constitution. South Africa’s constitution today is regarded as one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. The Bill of Rights enshrined in the constitution is without peer. It is, uniquely, based on the admirable principles of Ubuntu and reconciliation. To me it is clear that Mr Ramaphosa and his clique of untouchables have utter disregard for the Constitution, for the principles of parliamentary rule, and for the rights of South Africa’s citizens, unless they are members of the economic ruling classes and the political elites. In this regard, PW Botha was a better servant of white South Africans, his real constituents, than Mr Ramaphosa is of South Africa’s people, especially the poor and the marginalised, who are his real constituents.
8. The similarities are mindboggling and deeply depressing. Of the decaying Roman Empire, they said that while Rome burns, Caesar fiddles. Here, South Africa burns while Caesar goes to the auctions. The difference is that Mr Botha’s demise was a sign of the demise of apartheid, an infinitely good thing. Mr Ramaphosa’s demise is the demise of the ANC and the country, an infinitely tragic thing.
Allan Aubrey Boesak is a South African Dutch Reformed Church cleric and politician and anti-apartheid activist.