A RECENT contribution considered the importance of dress as a form of language, a way of communicating meanings (“Politics of dress and the Economic Freedom Fighters”, DD July 29) ).
While dress is one of a range of imagery that may express ideas, this article focuses on language itself through an examination of the use of the word “radical” in politics.
In the current conjuncture one cannot claim to be radical without examining the subversion of constitutional rights and denial of basic needs to housing, healthcare, education, water and other utilities. Abuse of state institutions through use of violence against those protesting denial of their constitutional rights must be addressed.
It is also necessary to stop undermining of legality through selective prosecution and policing, and through eroding the process for selecting judges in the Judicial Services Commission.
A radical approach must confront the defrauding of state monies and its use to enrich leaders, individuals linked to leaders and people whose support enables leaders to continue holding office.
The imposition of the rule of traditional leaders within previous Bantustan boundaries, undermining the rights to common citizenship, access to land and the constitutional rights of rural citizens, requires a concerted response.
In some revolutionary discourses legality and constitutionalism appear tame in comparison with storming fortresses. In the present moment defending constitutionalism is a radical act advancing the interests of all, but especially the poorest of the poor, who are hardest hit by the undermining of hard-won democratic rights.
In this context, parliamentarians who swear an oath of allegiance to the constitution have the power to hold government accountable where it fails to abide by the constitution. It is important to demand that parliamentarians move beyond symbolism and act to regain democratic rights.
To act radically in the current South African situation requires a daring imagination in relation to multifold areas of hardship. There cannot be a hierarchy of struggles, even if the most downtrodden do require most attention.
It is necessary to reclaim the promise of 1994 and re-envision ways of deepening and broadening democracy, drawing on different sectors of society, building on common interests and understandings. Parliament looms large, not only visually, but in the substantial powers it can deploy to realise these goals.
Radicalism must relate to the here and now, to the possibilities that present themselves in the conditions currently experienced, to make a difference to peoples’ lives.
Professor Raymond Suttner is attached to Rhodes University and Unisa. Suttner is a former political prisoner and was in the leadership of the ANC-led alliance in the 1990s. He blogs at raymondsuttner.com. This article first appeared on Creamer Media’s Polity.org.za.
Being radical includes defending rule of law
While dress is one of a range of imagery that may express ideas, this article focuses on language itself through an examination of the use of the word “radical” in politics.
In the current conjuncture one cannot claim to be radical without examining the subversion of constitutional rights and denial of basic needs to housing, healthcare, education, water and other utilities. Abuse of state institutions through use of violence against those protesting denial of their constitutional rights must be addressed.
It is also necessary to stop undermining of legality through selective prosecution and policing, and through eroding the process for selecting judges in the Judicial Services Commission.
A radical approach must confront the defrauding of state monies and its use to enrich leaders, individuals linked to leaders and people whose support enables leaders to continue holding office.
The imposition of the rule of traditional leaders within previous Bantustan boundaries, undermining the rights to common citizenship, access to land and the constitutional rights of rural citizens, requires a concerted response.
In some revolutionary discourses legality and constitutionalism appear tame in comparison with storming fortresses. In the present moment defending constitutionalism is a radical act advancing the interests of all, but especially the poorest of the poor, who are hardest hit by the undermining of hard-won democratic rights.
In this context, parliamentarians who swear an oath of allegiance to the constitution have the power to hold government accountable where it fails to abide by the constitution. It is important to demand that parliamentarians move beyond symbolism and act to regain democratic rights.
To act radically in the current South African situation requires a daring imagination in relation to multifold areas of hardship. There cannot be a hierarchy of struggles, even if the most downtrodden do require most attention.
It is necessary to reclaim the promise of 1994 and re-envision ways of deepening and broadening democracy, drawing on different sectors of society, building on common interests and understandings. Parliament looms large, not only visually, but in the substantial powers it can deploy to realise these goals.
Radicalism must relate to the here and now, to the possibilities that present themselves in the conditions currently experienced, to make a difference to peoples’ lives.
Professor Raymond Suttner is attached to Rhodes University and Unisa. Suttner is a former political prisoner and was in the leadership of the ANC-led alliance in the 1990s. He blogs at raymondsuttner.com. This article first appeared on Creamer Media’s Polity.org.za.
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