From the GNU to political game changers

Political journalist and foreign correspondent John Matisonn always thought the Government of National Unity (GNU) would survive, even though he said it was getting harder to think this way.

Matisonn said South Africa dodged a bullet when it came to the elections last year, especially regarding constitutionalist parties. The Democratic Alliance (DA) got only 22% of the vote. “That wasn’t even as much as Helen [Zille] got when she was leader of the DA. This was 1% above what it considered disastrous when Mmusi Maimane was leader and lost,” he said.

Though parties like the DA make it seem that they are the only ones fit to take over the African National Congress (ANC), they spent all of their advertising money speaking about how corrupt the ANC was instead of focusing on their vision of what they could make South Africa into.

“The DA does an excellent job of telling you about corruption, issues like that,” said Matisonn, “It doesn’t give you a vision of what the defence force would look like under a DA government, or how foreign policy would work, as opposed to just criticising the ANC.”

However bleak Matisonn may feel about the future of the GNU, there are some game changers that could alter the face of South African politics. One of these is if Helen Zille were to run for and become mayor of Johannesburg.

“It’s possible to get black voters to vote for whites. Obviously, there’s a question of what the ceiling is,” he said. “I remember when I was still in government, a friend who was ANC lived in Soweto. Her mother was ANC, and put on the black, green, and gold colours on Sunday. And when she [Zille] stepped down in favour of Mmusi Maimane, my friend’s mother was furious. She said, ‘What’s she doing giving this power to this young whippersnapper? What does he know?’ She was confident having Helen Zille there, even though she wouldn’t vote for her unless in a crisis.”

Matisonn believes that if Zille got elected mayor of Johannesburg, she would have the capability not only to do the job, but to do the job well.

“She has crushing administrative capability. She sends me texts at four in the morning. She works extremely hard,” he said.

Similarly, Matisonn believes that due to the lack of organisational skills in the ANC, if Zille is elected mayor, it will affect business confidence. “Because it’s in Joburg, it will affect business confidence, affect the JSE [Johannesburg Stock Exchange] as well.”

The second game changer is the Madlanga Commission, the judicial inquiry into law enforcement, intelligence, and the justice system in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). It was established after KZN Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged that a criminal syndicate had infiltrated state structures; senior leaders – including Police Minister Senzo Mchunu – interfered in investigations; the Political Killings Task Team was under threat; and business and political figures were colluding with criminals.

“If you think of the Zondo Commission, it was a failure in the sense that we didn’t get the big name prosecutions,” said Matisonn. “But it was successful in the sense that it got R11 billion back and so on, and it was politically successful as people came to realise that ANC corruption is embedded.

“I’m on websites and groups, ones that are largely ANC. They are furious about corruption. And they now vow not to vote for the party,” he said.

In addition to these two game changers, Matisonn believes that the government needs to change who it listens to as well as reform some economic policies. One element he believes could be improved is our information sector, as he says its expansion will give more people jobs.

“South Africa has such great opportunities,” he said. “I was writing this from my first book 10 years ago. The information here, the research on children, even in traditional documents, is that you could create hundreds of thousands of new jobs if we just got Wi-Fi cheaper and faster. The proof is the private sector which has moved into these sectors.”