anc chair oped - crisis of hegemony -draft 3.docx

8/10/2019 ANC Chair Oped - Crisis of Hegemony -draft 3.docx

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DA's crisis of hegemony

There shall be wailing, weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is almost a fatalistic axiom that a house built on

sand is bound to crumble. Such is the crisis of hegemony the DA faces that the best botox no longer

conceals the cracking facade nor can the most feeble edifice any longer support such a perilously

fractious superstructure. What appears to the observer as a casual public spat between two so called

leading lights in the guise of two so called prominent DA members, Lindiwe Mazibuko and Mmusi

Maimane is in reality only the storm turning into a cyclone as it beats its path of destruction; leaving in

its wake the imploding of the DAs legacy of iniquity, hypocrisy and lies.

Approximately 18 months ago, I alluded to this inevitability in an article entitled 'Eye of the storm '. The

storm has now as predicted then reached crisis proportion as the democratic alliance's politics of

deception precipitates the coalescence of a number of fault lines that the DA has been hushing,

concealing, and even suppressing; exacerbated by its iron-clad central command, Hunt Lascaris media-

spin and the dirty-tricks of diversion.

Back then we predicted that the DAs tensions largely stem from inherent contradictions in terms of

race, gender, class, cultural, social and economic differences amongst its members and supporters as it

tries to grow its existing support base beyond its historic hegemonic white English speaking

constituency to include, white Afrikaners, Coloureds, Indians as well as recently its desperate but feeble

attempts to attract Africans.

We said further that the DA trying to present itself as a mixed masala party would leave a bad taste in

most of its newer supporters palates because of its continued refusal to change its neo liberal

conservative, racist, colonial and paternalistic English culture, tradition, style and policies in order toaccommodate these new supporters and membersinterests. This even when the young English white

Caucus led by Private Ryan and Madam Zille have become a numerical minority within their party whilst

continuing to desperately and stubbornly maintain the cultural majority and cultural hegemony of the

party.

Within this context, the emergence of the DA's 'not Black enough' succession battle last week

represents a crisis of hegemony. These contradictions are inherent given that both contenders are

relative newcomers to politics in comparison to many of the DA s seasoned leaders. Equally so, they

having not delivered any constituency yet nor expected to in the foreseeable future. Instead, it is an

open secret that they have neither been groomed nor prepared but rather parachuted in by their

puppet masters Ryan and madam Zille. Mazibuko and Maimane despite all their rambunctiousness,

arrogance and ambition are both juvenile in comparison to the De Lille's, Carlisle's, Trollip's and

Seramane's amongst others. Inherently their emergence is stirring up very sensitive fault lines that are

causing a shift in the tectonic plates of the dicey game of power-mongering the DA plays and hence

precipitating a massive blow-out.


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The questions that are emerging within the DA and amongst the constituencies who voted for them is

why have a number of politically senior and experienced leaders in the DA African, Coloured, Indian and

white been overlooked in the so called succession debate? Has the DA's longstanding cold-war warriors,

the remnants of the DP and PFP been sacrificed at the altar of expediency?

Are the Afrikaner leaders and spokes of the ox-wagon all not good enough and spun out of contention?Why is the stalwart and black bastion of the DA simply looked in the tooth and deferred in favour of the

fresh prince of Blairgowrie?

Much has been written this past week about the DAs not black enough crisis much to the chagrin of

Hunt Lascaris and the blue spin machine. The reality is that there is a growing sense amongst the DAs

home base for whom the party is becoming too black for comfort. The unease of the Trollips, Bothas,

Bredells and the rest of the DAs Afrikanerdom who bring in the majority of the DAs ninety percent of

the white vote is palpable.

This lobby watched with glee as the mainly English speaking young white cabal of upstarts took a

beating in the aftermath of the Hunt Lascaris saga. Zille even offered to resign if there was any wrong-

doing but true to form did a u-turn when the beans were spilled. Most of them have since been

dispersed to the farthest corners of the public eye. Botha and Van Rensburg should take some time out

from their braai with the farmers and farm-owners to monitor whether the madam is not orchestrating

Private Ryan and company and the purveyors of the conservative neo-liberal agenda to do some remote

spin-doctoring as the crisis heightens or has this crisis been deliberately manufactured by the cloak and

dagger Machiavellian hidden hand of dark arts Master Ryan in order to ensure that the good Madam

Zille serves another term?

The crisis faced by the DA is not abetted by its governance record in the Western Cape and who, on the

balance of evidence, have not delivered except to its mainly white privileged constituency. What it hasdone well is talk left but marched right. In addition, it has of late gone through a serious rebranding

bordering on schizophrenia. It now has a deep-rooted liberation legacy and struggle credentials that

would make any of the progressive liberation movements do a double-take in disbelief. To add to its

disingenuity, despite its earlier Mandela-bogey, it attempted to co-opt the Mandela legacy forgetting

that Tata said that when his time comes, he will go in search of an ANC branch to join in the after-life.

Yet the real question is as it tries to portray itself as a party for all, why is it that that the DA under

Madam Zille and Master Ryan cannot support more senior, experienced and credible black African and

coloured leaders ? The truth, in fact, is that unless you conform to and are willing to toe the Madam s

line on colonial culture, ideology and tradition, you will not be allowed to lead the DA. All those thathave dared talk back have been side-lined, hence even Madam Mamphele rumored words why she

didn't join the DA as she refused to become Madam Zilles Ms Dlamini.

Re-enter the Mazibuko-Maimane saga, what the DA fears most is that the problem children al-Cope

style will bring their problems, schisms and petty-power struggles with them, too much for the

sensitivities of the old folk on the right. This noise will expose the finely crafted vintage and spill all the

old wine that it has packaged in new bottles. The centre cannot hold the DA faces a serious crisis of


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hegemony and as Antonio Gramscis thesis so aptly describes the crisis occurs in the whole power

complex and not just in the most immediate instance of the hegemony.

anc chair oped - crisis of hegemony -draft 3.docx

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