Tshwane is Burning: We Can Do Better

Note by the author: My apologies for not having posted in such a long time and thank you for your patience with me.

To be honest with my readers, I have been struggling to write this piece, even though I felt strongly that I need to write about this. To put it simply, I have been so shocked and disappointed, that it has been difficult to put all this into word, due to a feeling of absolute disbelief that has overwhelmed me since I first heard about protests in Tshwane over dissatisfaction with the mayoral candidate that the African National Congress (ANC) has put forward for the region.

On Monday, 20 June 2016, the ANC announced that Thoko Didiza had been selected as its mayoral candidate for the Tshwane region, rather than local favourites Kgosientso Ramokgopa, the current mayor, or Mapiti Matsena, his deputy. This has sparked violent protests all over the Tshwane region; protests that have left at least one person dead, at least nineteen buses burnt and many shops looted and/or destroyed. As per usual, the favoured targets for looters were foreign-owned small shops.

Minister of State Security, David Mahlobo, has claimed that tensions in Tshwane (and other areas identified as voting “hotspots”) “were expected”. He also said that these tensions were “both intra- and inter-party”. However, Mahlobo stressed that these protests have been “taken to a new level” by “gangs, youths on drugs and opportunistic members” of the communities with “criminal agendas”. He claimed that proof of this can be seen in the supposedly “sporadic” spread of violence and claimed that a new “level of organisation” was developing in the protest and violence. He did, however, not attempt to explain who he believed was behind the alleged organising.

The affected areas, amongst others, are Mamelodi‚ Atteridgeville‚ Mabopane‚ Soshanguve and Hammanskraal. The University of Pretoria, in the midst of exams, was so concerned about the safety of its students and staff that it closed its Mamelodi campus for its students’ and personnel's safety. That UP was so concerned, even without any disruption on campus yet, should serve as a dire warning to the public. School exams have also been disrupted by protests.

In his video, “Tshwane is Burning.”, Renaldo Gouws describes how he sees the situation. His feelings reflect many of my own and I encourage my readers to watch the video. As valuable as words are, the disbelief and outrage I feel cannot easily be distilled into a paragraph – some tones just need a voice to carry them.

According to the Mail & Guardian, residents of Atteridgeville have threatened to vote for the Democratic Alliance (DA) if Ramokgopa is replaced. I am terribly disappointed to see that these residents clearly resorted to violence before considering the option of voting for a different political party. In what world is violence the easier option? Is South Africa to be a land of might makes right, or the exemplary democracy we claim to be?

Apparently, the residents – the protesters – feel that the ruling party is taking them for granted and that they are not being listened to. Their message seems to be: “We are unhappy with the ANC, but we want to vote for the ANC”. And to me, that seems very illogical and very nonsensical.

I admit, I was not part of the Struggle – I did not fight to liberate South Africans from Apartheid – I was too young to understand until after the oppression ended. But was it not the original leader of the ANC, Nelson Mandela, who said “If the ANC does to you what the Apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the Apartheid government”? I am certain he didn’t mean “keep voting ANC, but burn everything until the ANC does what you want”.

A protester said: “Today they are sitting there in their comfortable chairs and empires while we are sitting in RDP houses. [Ramokgopa] is helping us with everything and now they want to take him away from us. We say down with Didiza and forward with [Ramokgopa]”. These supporters of Ramokgopa seem to forget, however, that Ramokgopa is not innocent himself – he is allegedly involved in tender fraud. Ramokgopa also stated that he wants Didiza to take over, thereby distancing himself from those protesting in his name; for all the good he has done, he is obedient to a corrupt ANC leadership.

“If the ANC thinks we are going to vote for them then they must forget it. The people said Sputla or no vote. The DA will win with a walkover,” said resident Kyle Mogale (Sputla is another name for the current mayor, Ramokgopa). To me, it seems unclear whether the residents intend to vote for the DA instead, or simply not vote. Either way, it would be a blow to the ANC. The residents say that if the mayoral candidate must change, they want a candidate who is from Tshwane (someone who knows the city, “understands the language” and knows the history).

What is so strange, is that these residents are clearly shooting themselves in the foot. This is illustrated by the fact that 25000 people were without electricity for hours because protesters hindered a maintenance team from Eskom, who wanted to fix a broken transformer. This transformer was at the same substation where Eskom employees were chased away due to the protests.

By burning down public services – even vehicles from emergency services – residents are merely disadvantaging themselves and their peers. Furthermore, the damages done to public property will, in the end, just cost the taxpayers more. Whether the ANC remain in power, whether Didiza becomes mayor or not, these protests will have a lasting impact on public services and service delivery until these things are restored or replaced – and it will be the taxpayers who provide the funding for this.

Some South Africans, in my experience, seem to believe that there is some magic, untapped well of wealth that either the ruling party, or “white people” in South Africa are keeping to themselves. To some degree, the ANC are, indeed, using public funds for their own gain, but these funds are not unlimited and destroying public property will not alleviate any financial issues. Corruption money will still go to corrupt politicians, and instead of providing free lunches at schools, the government will replace vehicles and repair fire damage.

Throughout the first two days of protests, many members of the ANC distanced themselves from the protests, claiming that the protests did not involve ANC supporters. They implied heavily that the protests were started by DA members, or perhaps the EFF. I find this rather frustrating: the ruling party is still not accepting responsibility for another of their spectacular failures. They shift blame unashamedly or just attempt to ignore the problem (which reminds me, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) are rather quiet about the protests in Tshwane).

Apparently, some protesters have been using live ammunition. The reports are difficult to confirm, because false reports are also being spread (an example of which is a false “red alert”, purportedly by the South African Police Department (SAPD), which did the rounds on social media recently). The live ammunition was, according to reports, used in an attempt to break a padlock in order to gain entry to a shopping mall, presumably for purposes of looting.

What has been confirmed, however, is that reporters were assaulted and/or robbed while covering the unrest in Tshwane. Reporters were also assaulted and intimidated by policemen. This comes shortly after both policemen and ANC members chased away journalists at an ANC election-related shooting.

While protests are nothing new, the scale of the current violence and unrest sheds light on exactly how sick our country has gotten. There is an infection in South Africa, and it started in the ANC – more precisely, the worst strain started in Jacob Zuma. This disease has spread its infection gradually and insidiously outwards through the ANC (notably through the NEC), and via that party, the government as a whole, parastatals and all. This unrest is just another symptom, an inflammation as the country rejects the Zupta rot.

What makes this sad, though, is that we have medicine. Instead of wasting away in flame and smoke, we should be applying the power of our vote, to reject corruption and destroy growing government. South Africans refusing to vote for a different political party when the current ruling party is failing the country amounts to not taking the medicine of the democratic vote, so hard-won in the years before 1994. We need to do better.

For those interested in knowing more about this tragedy: A very interesting and enlightening piece on the civil unrest and the ANC’s infighting, by Ranjeni Munusamy – entitled “We didn’t start the fire: Tshwane ‘unrest’ exposes ANC’s disconnect”.

Another informative piece by Kennedy Mudzuli, entitled “#TshwaneUnrest plot hatched at hotel”.