I have always been intrigued by the Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.”
As long as I can remember, South Africans have lived in interesting times. Even the days during apartheid, while often grim and uncertain, were always interesting.
For journalists, South Africa remains one of the best places to be. It is probably the same for film and television series or soap opera script writers.
This week alone has proved, often, that reality is much more interesting than fiction, especially as far as our politics goes.
We have had the high-profile resignation of the mayor of one of South Africa’s biggest cities, after a week of “will she, won’t she” which probably kept the leaders of the DA, which controls Cape Town, awake at night.
Patricia de Lille made the announcement a few hours before the deadline she set for herself.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane must be thinking that at least now the party can move forward and start preparing properly for the 2019 national elections, without the distraction of the De Lille saga.
But it is easier said than done. The fallout from De Lille’s resignation will haunt the party for much longer than the next few months. Maimane would do well to heed some of the criticism raised by De Lille when she also announced that she would no longer be a member of the DA.
He needs to listen to her advice to “take control of the party”.
The ANC, of course, has also had its fair share of troubles, especially Knowledge Malusi Gigaba who, not too long ago, had his eyes on one day assuming the presidency of the ANC. The events of the past few days appear to have seriously dented those ambitions.
But Jacob Zuma survived being charged with rape – and subsequently found not guilty – and a string of corruption allegations when he was the ANC deputy president, to become president of the party and the country.
I suppose there is a likelihood that Gigaba might survive the alleged leaking of a video in which he engaged in a sexual activity by himself, and a damning finding by the public protector that he violated the executive ethics oath and the Constitution by continuously lying under oath.
Elsewhere, the Gauteng leadership of the ANC has rejected a recommendation by the party’s integrity commission that two senior leaders, Qedani Mahlangu and Brian Hlongwa, should step down from their top positions in the party.
Among other things, Mahlangu and Hlongwa have been accused of causing serious damage to the province’s health system during their terms as MEC for Health.
The EFF, the third-largest party, has had problems of its own in recent weeks, with senior party leaders being linked by media reports to the VBS Bank looting.
The failure by political parties to hold their members to account and forcing them to step down will erode public confidence in political parties.
Many people I know, whose vote would have been certain not too long ago, are grappling with how they will vote next year.
Abstention should not be an option, but the main parties are making it difficult for us to choose one over the others.
*Fisher is an independent media professional. Follow him on Twitter: @rylandfisher
** The views expressed here are not necessarily that of Independent Media.