By Dr Vusi Shongwe
An old Westminster joke describes a young MP sneaking out of his first caucus meeting to peek into the House of Commons. A veteran followed the young man, placed an avuncular hand on his shoulder, and asked him what he was doing.
“I just couldn’t wait any longer for my first glimpse of the enemy!” said the excited freshman. The elder statesman shook his head sadly, “Those, my boy, are your political opponents. Your enemies are all on this side of the House.
One could not ask for a more perfect description of the critical political challenges facing the KZN ANC. In the context of the ANC, what the veteran is saying is true. “The enemies are on this side.” The ANC in KZN almost lost all the municipalities to the IFP.
If three ANC MPLs become sick, all hell could break lose. A new Executive Council will have to be formed. Lastly, the factional battle within the ANC is a major headache for the ANC. Indeed, the ANC has been eviscerated – thanks to its leadership, at least they know now.
If the sending of birthday wishes to Prince Buthelezi is anything to go by, the new KZN ANC leadership is equal to the task of resolving the problems that are bedevilling the party. Their conciliatory move toward Buthelezi shows not only their incredible foresight and vision but also that they are ahead of their time.
Delivering an oration on 3 January 2009 at the funeral of Mr Cleopas Mododa Nsibande, one of the most outstanding veterans, a unionist, a well-rounded African National Congress leader and a devotee to human freedom, President Kgalema Motlanthe told the mourners that Mr Nsibande lived and worked for unity.
He came to Luthuli House on more than three occasions to meet the then-President of the ANC, Mr Jacob Zuma and Mr Motlanthe to convince them of the urgency of meeting with Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi with the view of normalising relations between the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party.
His last visit was one week before he was admitted to hospital. “This was his last command to us, and we are duty bound to honour it,” said President Kgalema Motlanthe at the time. The late ANC stalwart Mr Cleopas Nsibande must be chuckling in his grave and shall henceforth repose peacefully for what he yearned for before his demise has finally happened.
Peace appears to have finally been ushered in to engulf the ANC and the IFP, which have been at loggerheads for decades with conciliatory amity.
The KZN ANC leadership needs to be commended for heeding the call of Mr Nsibande by wishing the only remaining elder statesman, Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a heartily and ground-breaking happy birthday.
The KZN ANC has done the unthinkable. It deserves to pat itself on the back for a great job well done. History will judge the leadership reverently.
Credit must also go to Prince Buthelezi for not only being amenable to the ANC’s gesture but also reciprocating it by graciously thanking the KZN ANC leadership through a well-publicised press statement.
This is an act which was unthinkable a month ago, given the long-standing feud that has existed for decades between the ANC and IFP. There is a need, therefore, to place the relationship of the two parties on a more constructive path. The mood is good, and the spirit is excellent. Indeed, this is a breakthrough that many people have been praying for. “Akahlali angakhanyisi la kumnyama khona uNkulunkulu,” said the revered and departed His Majesty King Zwelithini KaBhekuzulu. This is the beginning of political rapprochement, which will begin to address political issues that led to a fall out between the ANC and IFP.
There is nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come. The thawing of relations between the KwaZulu-Natal African National Congress and Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi is both refreshing and a laudable development. Finally, the ice is broken and the wind of reconciliation is blowing. With the “ice-melting” development augurs well not only for KwaZulu-Natal but also for the whole country because when KwaZulu-Natal sneezes, the whole country catches a cold.
It is only a pessimist who could be considerably less ebullient about this long-desired development. The end of the frigid relations of many years between the two parties will finally pave the way for reconciliation.
What needs to happen now is to pass on the peace pipe between Inkosi Buthelezi and the ANC leadership to the rank and file of the two respective political parties.
There were times when the relations between the ANC and the IFP plummeted to an almost all-time over and plunged thousands of lives into tragedy.
The defrosting of the chilly ties between the ANC and Inkosi Buthelezi (IFP) will help overcome long-held differences and deep-seated divisions to bring the desired harmony and understanding. The path, of course, is not going to always be smooth and might, at times, feel quite bumpy, but it must be traversed.
There is no denying, though, that one of the feuds in modern political history of South Africa appears to be at the end. The thawing of relations between Inkosi Buthelezi and the ANC leadership must have come as a surprise to many. However, as it is normally said, “time, as in all feuds, is a great healer.”
To his credit, and, truth be told, the first signs of the thawing of relations between the ANC and the IFP came from Inkosi Buthelezi himself.
Praising Zuma, Johhny Makhathini, followed by Dr Zweli Mkhize, Mrs Bongi Sithole Moloi, Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, when she was MEC for COGTA, somebody noticed that when she called a meeting of Amakhosi, Inkosi Buthelezi also turned up.
Upon entering the hall where the meeting was held, Premier Dube-Ncube, in a sign of respect and compassion, gave up her seat and sent an official to fetch Inkosi to come and occupy the seat in the front. But now, there appears to be real signs of peace going on – thanks to the KZN ANC leadership and Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi. The birthday wishes reveal how startlingly far the undercurrent thawing of relations between the two parties has already gone.
I heard one MPL of the ANC saying she respects and likes Mr Blessed Gwala of the IFP. One happy development in the past two weeks in KwaZulu-Natal has been what could be regarded as, to borrow the phrase of the famous Winston Churchill, “the end of the beginning” of the thawing of relations between the African National Congress and Inkatha Freedom Party.
It was also the end of the Cold war, which at some stage was so hot that it led to the loss of 20 000 lives. On the birthday of Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi, politics in KwaZulu-Natal entered uncharted territory when the KZN ANC, in an unprecedented magnanimous and conciliatory move, wished the Prince of KwaPhindangene a happy birthday.
William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar puts it aptly where Brutus talks to Cassius, saying, “there is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood leads on to fortune; omitted, on all the voyage in their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or we must lose our ventures.” It is therefore up to the leaders of the two organisations to “take the current when it serves or lose their ventures.”
To both the leaders of the ANC and the IFP, an unparalleled opportunity has been placed in your hands. Never has there been a time when hope is more justified than now. What the ANC and Inkosi Buthelezi have done is a good beginning, and because they have begun, history now lays upon the leaders of the two political parties a special obligation to see it through. They can seize this moment, or they can lose it. They can make good of this opportunity, or they can let it slip away. Together, therefore, they must seize the moment and have no regrets. They must seize the moment to pave the way for reconciliation.
A clinical psychologist, Allen Elkin, mentions four critical steps on how to reconcile with friends, business partners or relatives after a major falling-out.
a) Let go of your friend’s mistake. Often, fights begin over a small issue and escalate into the realm of moral judgment. Now is the time to let it go. “What you need to do is look back at the issue, remove it from the moral realm and treat it a though it were the result of foolish behavior,” says Elkin. Or better, look at your old friend’s stupidity as a medical problem. He probably failed to repay that $20 because of brain-cell loss, not cheapness.
b) Poke them with a stick. Be the guy who extends the olive branch. Yes, it is tough, but you will be surprised how open an old friend may be to patching things up. “Usually, there is an atmosphere of reconciliation. All you need to do is tap it with a phone call,” says Elkin.
c) Avoid the past. Rehashing the problem that caused the falling-out will just reopen the wound. Stick to the present. Do not hold out for apologies. Concentrate on the future.
d) Accept the scars. The first few minutes of reconciling will always be awkward, so accent it and move on to other things. “Be aware that the friendship may never be like old times,” says Elkin. But we are sure that in no time, you will be sharing noogies and investment tips as in the good old days.
There have been conspicuously remarkable overtures for peace that Inkosi Buthelezi has displayed at the risk of being disowned by members of his party in his insatiable quest to bury the hatchet between his party and the African National Congress. Inkosi once remarked during the impeachment debate of President Jacob Zuma that “the times are too dire, the challenges too great and the risks too frighteningly high for us to undermine the commander.”
This remark, in my view, was meant to forge unity and co-operation among those who were seeing things differently in relation to issues of national interests. He also remarked during the 2010 State of the Nation Address that: “I cannot afford to see the President and his government fail. I will not applaud and rejoice but weep, for if they fail, our liberation fails. In this time of economic turbulence and enormous challenges, we are in this boat together, and together we will either sail or sink.”Inkosi Buthelezi made these stateman-like remarks to the ANC and, by so doing, showed political maturity at its best when in a noble political gesture, he (Inkosi Buthelezi) attended the reburial of Johnny Makhathini.
Credit must go to both Inkosi Buthelezi and Dr Zweli Mkhize. The way they have been relating to each other in public over the years sent an immensely powerful message to their parties in that they may differ politically, but that does not mean that they are enemies.
Each time Inkosi Buthelezi and Premier Mkhize are seen together, they are both laughing, deep in serious discussion and, above all, showing respect to each other. Their meeting each other is always permeated with an aura of respect and a great spirit of camaraderie. Recently, when the Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Foundation was launched, remarking and thanking the KZN ANC’s unthinkable yet commendable gesture of wishing Inkosi Buthelezi a happy birthday, Inkosi singled out Dr Zweli Mkhize as one of his great friends from the ANC he has had good relations.
It would be remiss of me not to extol Mrs Bongi Sithole-Moloi, who, when she was MEC for Arts and Culture, surprised many when she supported the Prince Mangosuthu Museum.
In my view, what MEC did was to start the conversation between the IFP and ANC with the view of getting the two political parties to engage meaningfully with the problems of the province because, after all, their constituencies are the same – the people of KwaZulu-Natal. It must be said that MEC Sithole-Moloi supported the museum at that time when the relations were a bit frosty between the ANC and IFP. She, therefore, broke the ice and got the parties to begin the process of viewing each other as enemies.
This, therefore, explains why, just like Dr Zweli Mkhize, she is so close to Inkosi Buthelezi’s heart. On the practical level, MEC Sithole-Moloi gave a directive to government officials to engage with the Prince Mangosuthu Museum to see how they can sustain and ensure that the museum continues to preserve the legacy of the Prince of KwaPhindangene, and the priceless artefacts housed by the museum.
The KZN ANC leadership and Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi have weathered the storm to break from the past and put KwaZulu-Natal on a peace trajectory.
It may seem also superfluous to talk about peace since the word is on so many lips and questions bearing on it are taken up and debated so widely, but it is not superfluous now because of the recent development of the thawing of relations between Inkosi Buthelezi, and the KZN ANC leadership repeats its gentle, noble name to us, so uttering it as to give us not only the comforting sound but an insight into the richness of its meaning. In this way, it obliges us to clarify our ideas of the true meaning of peace, which is, in St. Augustine’s celebrated definition, ‘the calm of order” – a reflection, that is, of what accords with justice, with the thought of God’s eternal law.
The scripture tells us to “pursue peace.” The pursuit of peace resembles the building of a great cathedral. It is the work of generations. In concept, it requires a master architect; in execution, the labours of many.
The pursuit of peace requires time – but we must use time as a tool and not as a coach. We must be prepared to profit from the vision of peace left by great men who came our way. In the pursuit of peace, we must, in the well-known words of the towering Benjamin Franklin, “all hang together, or assuredly we shall hang separately.
In short, the normalisation of relations between the ANC leadership and Inkosi Buthelezi is something that should be embraced by the rank and file of the ANC and the IFP. Peace is a gift of God beyond compare, but likewise, it is the object of man’s highest desire. It is, moreover, indivisible.
None of the lineaments which make up its unmistakable appearance can be ignored or excluded. At all times, because true peace is indivisible in its various aspects, it will not succeed in establishing itself on the social and international plane unless it will also be, in the first place, an interior fact.
This requires, then, before all else – it is necessary to repeat it – “men of good will.” Precisely those to whom the angels of Bethlehem announce peace: “Pax hominibus sonae voluntatis” (Peace to men of goodwill). Luke II.14). They are alone. Indeed, can give reality to the conditions contained in the definition of peace given by St. Thomas: the ordered harmony of citizens. Therefore, order and harmony.
It is important to note that peace is not something that you pick up off the ground and say, oh look, peace! I found peace. Peace, you must work at, peace you must create, peace you have got make, peace you have got to produce.
Rodrigo Carazo, the former president of Costa Rica, once said: “If you want peace, educate for peace.” He also said “war begins in the minds of men and women. It is, therefore, in the minds of men and women that we must construct the defences of peace.” It is, therefore, necessary to remove from the path the obstacles placed by the malice of man.
The Psalmist reminds us that peace is God’s gift: “I will hear what the Lord God has to say, a voice that speaks of peace, peace for his people and his friends, and those who turn to him in their hearts.” Notably, to know the cause of peace, we must first know what peace is. In the City of God, Saint Augustine said: “The peace of body and soul is ordered life and health. The peace of man is ordered concord.” Saint Augustine is saying that peace of men is peace in the social sense, whereas space of the body and soul is peace in an individual sense – the inward peace of heart, the peace between man and God. These two should never be confused.
Social peace is primarily an affair of political constitutions, justice, and laws; individuals’ peace is primarily a moral matter, an affair of virtue and charity. So, the peace I am talking about is peace of the community, and it exists in many degrees. It is seldom, if ever, perfect concord or harmony.
Such imperfect peace, which is probably the only kind that will ever exist on earth, may be more or less imperfect as elements of strain and discord tax the unity of any group. Hence, peace must be realistically defined, not only in reference to the ideal perfection, but also considering its degrees of imperfection.
Having established that it is social peace we are talking about, it becomes important to distinguish between political peace and all the other forms of social peace – that of the family or the business or corporation.
To distinguish political peace, we must separate the political community from all others. A distinguishing mark of the political community is the fact that it includes other communities and is included by no other.
It includes families, universities, churches, political parties, and economic associations. I am not implying that the political community should arrogate to itself every social function. Since peace is equivalent to the life of a community, whatever is needed to establish and sustain a community is needed for the establishment and preservation of peace.
Does the thawing of relations mean that the hatchet has been buried? Let us just say there is a new chapter in the relations of the two political parties, and credit must go to the ANC KZN leadership for their incredible foresight and Inkosi Buthelezi for his political maturity.
The wind of reconciliation is blowing. It is time to have the hatchet finally buried. As we move forward as a country, I would like to paraphrase the profound words of American president Theodore Roosevelt: “KwaZulu-Natal will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.
*Dr Vusi Shongwe is the Chief Director Heritage at the KZN Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. He writes in his personal capacity.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE