Spare a thought for Makhosi Khoza. She faces a lonely road of isolation bolstered by the knowledge that she has chosen the path of principle, not expediency. We must admire her courage in staying with her demand that President Jacob Zuma step down.
She will be encouraged by the media interest. And from her fellow ANC MPs, she will get many a warm smile, but few will be bold enough to say, “Comrade, I agree with you, but I have a family to feed and a mortgage to pay.”
Every ANC MP will know the sequence of events that follow such a public disavowal of ANC policy. The secretary-general, or his provincial counterpart, will send her a charge sheet that will list her public transgressions and lay down procedures for disciplinary action.
She will first be called to informal hearings at which she can be represented by another ANC MP to plead her case. A report will then go to the head of the party’s disciplinary committee for formal hearings. If found guilty, she can be suspended or even expelled.
But we need to consider some background. The issue of the no-confidence vote, whether secret or open, will long ago have been discussed in the ANC caucus in parliament. The caucus does have a certain autonomy, especially on legislative matters, since there is much more technical knowledge on legislation in parliament than in Luthuli House, where the top six of the leadership sit.
But the caucus’s autonomy has strict limitations. In reality, on all directly political matters, instructions come from Luthuli House; and if there is any doubt, the president will come to the caucus and lay down the law.
To ensure that there are no doubts on policy, the ANC chief whip will be in constant contact with Luthuli House, where he gets his instructions.
There will be discussions in the caucus among MPs and ministers, who are all members of the caucus, and where some opportunity to question policy and even to raise doubts will be available. But all MPs know that, ultimately, the crucial decisions are taken elsewhere.
It is in the caucus that Khoza will recognise her allies and sense the degree of support she can expect.
I am not optimistic that a substantial number of ANC MPs will vote against Zuma or even abstain, but one can’t be sure. What will weigh on minds is the Constitutional Court judgment that stated unequivocably that an oath to abide by the Constitution when going to parliament takes precedence over an oath of loyalty taken when joining a political party.
What will also influence ANC MPs is the knowledge that the oath of loyalty to the ANC taken many years ago in the Mandela era is being undermined every day by the conduct of the current leadership, which has allowed corruption to penetrate to the highest and lowest levels of the organisation, as the leadership openly acknowledged at the recent policy conference.
Arguably, it is not the same organisation and members cannot treat its procedures with the same respect.
All in all, MPs are in a new ball game. The South African Communist Party is threatening to go it alone, which means that more than 30 MPs face an uncertain future.
Furthermore, on current predictions, the ANC may lose a lot of ground in the next elections, which also has serious implications for many MPs, and, there is so much turmoil at branch and provincial level as factions squabble for spoils that nothing is certain for anyone.
Given these uncertainties, some MPs may consider it wise to take a long view and vote with conscience rather than expediency.
What I find baffling is the little insight normally well-informed people have of the parliamentary process. Few universities teach this kind of politics and ignorance of the legislative process is universal. So, it is only when a crisis looms that parliament gets any kind of real scrutiny, yet it is a crucial institution for the survival of democracy.
Even the student movement, which has shown such militancy on occasion, seems to have little depth and even less interest in the broader political arena. I am not aware of any expressions of solidarity for Khoza even though they surely agree with her sentiments on Zuma. It seems that the small groups of radical students at universities are more concerned with protecting their turf against those who don’t toe their line than in playing a part in the current political turbulence.
Without resorting to hyperbole, that political turbulence is now serious. It is seriously eroding the economy, it is making many people uneasy about the future and despondency is pervasive.
The actions of brave people like Khoza go against the trend and remind us of the country we could be.
- Ben Turok is a former ANC MP and now director of the Institute for African Alternatives. This piece first appeared in the Business Day.
OPINION: Brave Khoza travelling lonely road
She will be encouraged by the media interest. And from her fellow ANC MPs, she will get many a warm smile, but few will be bold enough to say, “Comrade, I agree with you, but I have a family to feed and a mortgage to pay.”
Every ANC MP will know the sequence of events that follow such a public disavowal of ANC policy. The secretary-general, or his provincial counterpart, will send her a charge sheet that will list her public transgressions and lay down procedures for disciplinary action.
She will first be called to informal hearings at which she can be represented by another ANC MP to plead her case. A report will then go to the head of the party’s disciplinary committee for formal hearings. If found guilty, she can be suspended or even expelled.
But we need to consider some background. The issue of the no-confidence vote, whether secret or open, will long ago have been discussed in the ANC caucus in parliament. The caucus does have a certain autonomy, especially on legislative matters, since there is much more technical knowledge on legislation in parliament than in Luthuli House, where the top six of the leadership sit.
But the caucus’s autonomy has strict limitations. In reality, on all directly political matters, instructions come from Luthuli House; and if there is any doubt, the president will come to the caucus and lay down the law.
To ensure that there are no doubts on policy, the ANC chief whip will be in constant contact with Luthuli House, where he gets his instructions.
There will be discussions in the caucus among MPs and ministers, who are all members of the caucus, and where some opportunity to question policy and even to raise doubts will be available. But all MPs know that, ultimately, the crucial decisions are taken elsewhere.
It is in the caucus that Khoza will recognise her allies and sense the degree of support she can expect.
I am not optimistic that a substantial number of ANC MPs will vote against Zuma or even abstain, but one can’t be sure. What will weigh on minds is the Constitutional Court judgment that stated unequivocably that an oath to abide by the Constitution when going to parliament takes precedence over an oath of loyalty taken when joining a political party.
What will also influence ANC MPs is the knowledge that the oath of loyalty to the ANC taken many years ago in the Mandela era is being undermined every day by the conduct of the current leadership, which has allowed corruption to penetrate to the highest and lowest levels of the organisation, as the leadership openly acknowledged at the recent policy conference.
Arguably, it is not the same organisation and members cannot treat its procedures with the same respect.
All in all, MPs are in a new ball game. The South African Communist Party is threatening to go it alone, which means that more than 30 MPs face an uncertain future.
Furthermore, on current predictions, the ANC may lose a lot of ground in the next elections, which also has serious implications for many MPs, and, there is so much turmoil at branch and provincial level as factions squabble for spoils that nothing is certain for anyone.
Given these uncertainties, some MPs may consider it wise to take a long view and vote with conscience rather than expediency.
What I find baffling is the little insight normally well-informed people have of the parliamentary process. Few universities teach this kind of politics and ignorance of the legislative process is universal. So, it is only when a crisis looms that parliament gets any kind of real scrutiny, yet it is a crucial institution for the survival of democracy.
Even the student movement, which has shown such militancy on occasion, seems to have little depth and even less interest in the broader political arena. I am not aware of any expressions of solidarity for Khoza even though they surely agree with her sentiments on Zuma. It seems that the small groups of radical students at universities are more concerned with protecting their turf against those who don’t toe their line than in playing a part in the current political turbulence.
Without resorting to hyperbole, that political turbulence is now serious. It is seriously eroding the economy, it is making many people uneasy about the future and despondency is pervasive.
The actions of brave people like Khoza go against the trend and remind us of the country we could be.
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