New political dawn as MK catches everyone by surprise
May 29 will go down as a day of enormous historic importance in the political landscape of this country.
When President Cyril Ramaphosa decided that was the day on which we would go out to decide who next governs this land as the seventh administration since 1994, the year of liberation, the wreckage he would wake up to a few days after polling day would have been far from his mind. And the demolition man: one Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma.
It has become somewhat of a cliché to write about how many times so many had written Zuma’s political obituary and metaphorically assigned him to the
political scrapheap, only to be served humble pie.
Ramaphosa now joins the list of those Msholozi has outmanoeuvred, while characteristically staying more than one step ahead of the game. Zuma has
often been described as a chess master of South African politics, a wily old fox from the kingdom by the seaside; a fact Ramaphosa now surely has to concede.
At the tail end of the vote counting and verification of the results, there was no doubt where real political power lies. Ramaphosa has been shipwrecked off the coast and the nearest outpost is by the foot of the Nxamalala mountains.
Take it or leave it. He is now, at the stroke of a mark on a ballot paper, yesterday’s man. Power has moved surreptitiously and firmly to Nkandla.
The people have indeed spoken, but what are they saying precisely?
Still the biggest party in the land, the once all-conquering ANC has been reduced to a pitiful 40%, or thereabouts, of the vote, needing a coalition to hang on to some semblance of power.
The Zuma wrecking ball has done damage to more than just one party with Julius Malema’s EFF also bruised and left lying in fourth position behind Msholozi’s new kid on the block, the MK Party, which has just the ANC and the DA ahead of it. The IFP is toast.
As South Africa wakes up to the inspection of the damage done to some dreams, it is important to call on the politicians to grasp what this momentous moment of having, for the first time SA needing to be governed through a coalition, requires of them: to act in the best interests of the nation.
We are heading into uncharted territory nationally, and with the chaotic mess that is coalition governance at local level, there is much resting on the shoulders of those now required to get South Africa off sailing again.
Egos might still be there, albeit bruised, but soon enough those with such a chip on the shoulder will realise this is a game much bigger than their own narrow and selfish interests. This is the kind of time that calls for true leadership that seeks to put South Africa first.
Let the horse-trading games begin. And, once again, let South Africa win!
