It’s the System Stupid

* This article first appeared in the Saturday Star.

People are fallible, make mistakes, are deceived and generally hold varied levels of moral values.  It is for this very reason that humankind has over the course of its evolution developed systems of checks and balances to ensure that no single individual, or party for that matter, is allowed to wield unfettered power.  

Arising from these struggles, there emerged a broad consensus in the world on the need for states to be underpinned by constitutions which broadly speaking creates an illusion of a social contract. This social contract is then underpinned by a voting system which creates a political class who are delegated through this vote to exercise power over their daily lives and who gain legitimacy through the process of a democratic vote.

That we (as global humanity) have not been very successful at this should not necessarily deter us. There are some successes in this regard though none of the successes are infallible, if only because it relies on human intervention to function.

South Africa has been held up as one such success. The writers of the South African Constitution used the extensive cannon of experience drawn from world history of state development and imbued it with a tinge of social democracy and African specifics, such as the Council of Traditional Leaders. Despite some unique aspects, such as Chapter 9 institutions (which has a long political history dating back to the Qin Dynasty 221 BC, but which has only recently gained much favour) and the House of Traditional Leaders, the South African Constitution nonetheless was broadly framed around Western Parliamentary democracy and specifically the format of representative democracy.

Despite the shortcomings of a constitution which sets grand ideals but which nonetheless is the crowning achievement of the Colonial Project and by extension the framework under which the South African Society is allowed to reproduce the patterns of the past, the Constitution has nonetheless provided an important base from which society can engage in a prolonged and vigorous consideration of what this particular social contract and its outcomes means for a nation that is yet to emerge from its long dark colonial past.

The student movements, the rebellions of the poor, and the twitter campaigns of the middle class against corruption, are all intimately part of this search for solutions to the intractable colonial problem.  With the crass details of state capture now being added to the flames of discontent and the calls for the head of Zuma growing, we could be excused for missing the very obvious central point to the dilemma we face.

It is the System Stupid.

The South African system is hamstrung somewhere between the allure of placing a political class in charge of a Trillion Rand per annum economy and the vague promises of a democratic state.

The system currently presents a number of challenges which makes it easy for Patriarchs or grand leaders to usurp the lion’s share of power and to dispense this power through state owned enterprises, tenders, jobs and appointments.

The connection between the party and the state presents the most basic and fundamental challenge to any Party that wishes to run a large economy. The Party becomes a conduit in which votes are garnered on the promise of jobs, appointments and participation in patronage networks. All power is thus not vested within the delegates to conference, but is delegated upwards in a way that turns the mighty vote at congress into a meal ticket rather than an exercise in democracy.

From this process, where a general lack of access to jobs and opportunities in a stagnating economy,   turns the democratic process into a development of patronage networks, the factions emerge and by extension the politics of the Slate. The question then becomes not what can you do for your country, but what can you do for me.

The intensity of this process and the complete reliance on it by the ANC is partly the reason why our legislators, which ideally should be autonomous enough to hold the executive to account, are merely lapdogs and praise singers who barely garner any respect from any right thinking and knowledgeable observer.

It is then here, in Parliament, where the rubber meets the road, the shortcomings of the system are most clearly visible. In the Portfolio committees, no one dares be original, question too closely or generally exercise their minds on the issues that land before them. Instead, deference is given to Party leaders to provide the line of march, and leaders are seldom questioned, never mind held to account. As the leadership of the Party, at least those who can dole out patronage, are generally located in the executive, the lack of oversight and accountability is then hardly surprising. It`s like asking someone to evaluate you while you hold their pay check in your hand.  One can hardly expect a rigorous or honest evaluation.

When there are no longer critical questions being asked, and when barriers are removed and accountability is thin on the ground, then it is hardly surprising that power will fill the void and corruption will set in.

People are fallible. We have seen many good women and men enter the labyrinth of politics only to emerge on the other side with their heels of clay visibly exposed. Thus to rely on a mythical Philosopher King to deliver with integrity, what no one has done before is asking much. It is then the system of governance that we must constantly turn to, to find the answers that plaque generation after generation.

So as the ANC heads into its most important NEC meeting since Jacob Zuma ascended to power on the back of Patronage promises, it would do the organisations leaders well to ponder on this perspective of power and the state.

So let’s be clear. The whole NEC and very possibly every structure of the ANC are complicit or corrupt in one form or the other if only because they persist in participating in a system that breeds unaccountability and ultimately corruption.

Unfortunately the issue for the ANC this weekend is likely not to be the constitutional crises which necessarily arise from these revelations of what has been called “state capture”, but which I would suggest is just another day at the office, for as I outlined above, the entire organisation, and political system is set up to encourage and allow this very activity, the capture of the state from its democratic and public good intentions.

So for now it will be about damage control for the ANC, even if that means side-lining Zuma so that the business of running the patronage networks can continue.

If the ANC is serious about the constitution and our democracy, then they would immediately start a discussion on how to overhaul the entire power structure of the ANC, the party's relation to government, the electoral system which allows the party leadership to create patronage networks and regulation and transparency of party funding.

Anything less than this is just the same bullshit dressed up in a different suit.