XPost: soc.culture.south-africa, soc.history, za.politics   
   XPost: za.misc, soc.rights.human   
   From: hayesstw@telkomsa.net   
      
   The new is not yet born   
   Nomboniso Gasa   
   City Press,7 July 2018   
      
   Transitions are inherently complex and uncertain. They bear the weight   
   of expectations at a time when the curtain has not been fully drawn on   
   the past. This is true of transitions from one regime to another as   
   well as intra-party leadership change. Often it depends on the   
   character of the men and women who come to office and those who   
   depart.   
      
   The shredding of the truth   
      
   There are many reasons for the fraught nature of transitions. For   
   example, when the National Party was voted out of office, it is common   
   knowledge that it worked shredding machines to breaking point.   
      
   There is a lot of information that was lost and destroyed forever.   
   Information vital to South Africa’s history and understanding of many   
   apartheid crimes.   
      
   Despite meticulous research by top academics and investigative   
   journalists, there remain many gaps in our country’s collective   
   memory.   
      
   That was the intention of a government exiting after four decades of   
   inhumane, repressive and brutal rule. Although destruction of   
   documents is unacceptable, it is easy to fathom why the party did it.   
      
   It had strongrooms full of files recording unspeakable atrocities. It   
   had spies and units the mission of which was dedicated to the   
   obliteration of liberation movements, creating and fuelling conflict   
   in communities.   
      
   Who can forget the internecine violence in the townships of Cape Town   
   – Crossroads, Khayelitsha, KTC? Some parts of this land are still   
   drenched in blood; violence is deeply etched in the land in   
   KwaZulu-Natal’s townships and the Midlands.   
      
   The deadly 1980s remain part of Gauteng’s ugly history, the hostel   
   dwellers in deadly fights with neighbours in the townships, mine   
   conflicts, people thrown out of moving trains because they happened to   
   get on to the “wrong” carriage.   
      
   With the help of dogged investigative journalists, such as Jacques   
   Pauw, Max du Preez and many others, some of apartheid’s operations, as   
   in Vlakplaas, were unmasked. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission   
   lifted the lid on other crimes that were hidden from public view.   
      
   Yet, despite all that we know today, we know that we do not know   
   nearly enough and perhaps will never know the full extent of   
   apartheid’s brutality.   
      
   There are crimes which remain hidden, unspoken and unacknowledged.   
      
   These took place in rural parts of this country. For example, in a   
   small sleepy village just outside of Indwe villagers protested against   
   former Bantustan “Paramount Chief” Kaiser Matanzima. The response was   
   a series of actions, including scorched-earth tactics. Homestead   
   kraals were set alight with domestic animals inside. As people tried   
   to help the bellowing cattle and whimpering sheep trapped in fire,   
   they noticed that their huts were on fire. Many families lost   
   everything. To this day many people who were born in that period are   
   named Nomlilo, after isiganeko, the terrible incident.   
      
   The land of Lady Frere and its surrounds is marked by history that   
   remains unwritten. Human minds are often incapable of coping with so   
   much trauma. There are important details we have forgotten. With state   
   documents shredded, it is difficult to close the gap between memory,   
   buried truths and the actions of the apartheid government and its   
   Bantustans.   
      
   From apartheid to democracy   
      
   So it was in this void that the Transitional Executive Council stepped   
   in. Even in that period, files were still being destroyed. Most   
   importantly, the first republic after apartheid had to use the civil   
   servants who worked for the previous government.   
      
   This was not because the new government was naive. Sometimes the times   
   in which we live offer us very few choices, if any at all. It was that   
   a balance had to be struck between the incumbents and the new   
   bureaucrats. Besides a bloated civil service, in some instances there   
   might have been other costs – sections of the bureaucracy who did not   
   accept the agenda of the new government.   
      
   By this, I do not imply that everyone who had been apartheid public   
   servants tried or succeeded in sabotaging the new government. In many   
   ways, the current conjuncture in the country is as complex as the   
   transition from apartheid to democratic government.   
      
   Graceful exits   
      
   When Nelson Mandela’s time to leave office arrived, he honoured his   
   word to serve one term. Long before he left office, it was clear that   
   he was paving the way for Thabo Mbeki and gracefully receding into the   
   background.   
      
   When Mbeki was recalled after the Polokwane conference, he honoured   
   the wishes of the party which elected him to high office.   
      
   He encouraged his Cabinet colleagues and those who were loyal to him,   
   to put party and state above their personal grievances. He left behind   
   solid state institutions and systems. Whatever the criticisms of   
   Mbeki’s leadership style and policies, no one can deny his dignity in   
   facing humiliation, sometimes at the hands of people he had groomed   
   and helped grow in stature and office. Once he left office, Mbeki   
   spent a long time away from domestic politics and allowed the new team   
   to lead.   
      
   Ramaphosa’s albatross   
      
   Cyril Ramaphosa has not had a similar space.   
      
   His leadership, which he won by a small margin, was contested from the   
   outset. Intra-party contestations can be brutal. There is horse   
   trading, back stabbing and compromise to hold the party together. Some   
   of the compromises have far-reaching negative consequences with little   
   returns.   
      
   This is obvious in the way former president Jacob Zuma has conducted   
   himself since he left office. He has made it clear that his presence   
   looms large. Many of his lieutenants remain in office today.   
      
   They pledge loyalty to the ANC and its president. In reality, they are   
   loyal to themselves and probably Zuma.   
      
   While steps are afoot to clean the administration and to build   
   institutions that were hollowed out during the Zuma period, it is   
   impossible to move more quickly. Many of Zuma’s people remain in key   
   positions.   
      
   Even if they wanted to change, they are conscious of many ways in   
   which they are deeply compromised. It is a matter of public record   
   that many disreputable ministers from the Zuma era are serving in this   
   administration. They are now part of Ramaphosa’s headache and will be   
   linked to his legacy.   
      
   As Zuma saw his days were coming to an end, he booby trapped Ramaphosa   
   with the land question and free higher education, which increased the   
   deficit by billions, knowing that the state was bankrupt.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)