Thank you, but no thanks

• Published date: 31 July 2023
• Author: Allan Boesak My dear Brother Popo,
• Publication title: Cape Argus (Cape Town, South Africa)

Since our last conversation I wanted not only to read and reflect on your document but also consult as widely as possible as I travelled the country and joined discussions and UDF commemorations. I did so not only because it is proper and the right thing to do, but also because over the last few years I have been very vocal in my views on the state of the nation, our politics and the plight of our people under the ANC government

I have noted the reaction of people whenever I spoke, so I know there is almost complete consensus on these matters and the utter failure of the ANC to give meaning to our democracy. An invitation from the Youth Desk of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa on March 21 to speak to their youth on the topic, “The Plight of Our Democracy: What Have We Lost?” just about sums it up. What I wanted to do this time was to get confirmation on my views about this commemoration year and specifically the plans you and your group have for the “action” you envisage.

Across the country, there is virtually no disagreement on what South Africans are facing right now as a result of governmental mismanagement over thirty years, that something needs to be done urgently, and that our people need to be united and inspired toward action.

However, I have been confirmed in my instinctive hesitation about the group you represent. That is the group you yourself have identified as the so-called “Defend our Democracy” group. In theory, I find little fault with your analysis of our situation. It is indeed as dire as you describe it in that very well-written document. So the problem is not so much the “what”, or the “how?” It is the “who”.

Like just about everyone else, I have been deeply concerned about the open factionalism in the ANC, the divisionism it causes, and the toxic effect of it on our politics. This is one of the reasons why I, over the last two years or so, have consistently declined every invitation from that group to speak at their public meetings. I did not want to be associated with any faction in the ANC – not then, and not now.

I declined those invitations also because I found that while “Defend our Democracy” was very vocal in their condemnation of former President Jacob Zuma, and rightly so, they were curiously quiet when President Cyril Ramaphosa’s questionable actions began to surface. I was already disturbed when Mr Ramaphosa blandly began to speak of “nine wasted years” under Zuma when, in fact, he was right there, as...