Things that could not be said - Frank Chikane

After reading Chapter 6 of this book the idea was to share a passage on South Africa's former President, Thabo Mbeki's role in facilitating the creation of a Government of National Unity between ZANU PF and opposition parties in Zimbabwe.  That was the intention but unfortunately as i progressed with the book i realised that sharing only a passage of this simple yet telling book on South African politics would be an injustice to Frank Chikane's fine work. So instead i will share five learnings that I picked up.

1. Politics is riddled with a severe case of corruption but unfortunately the effects of this corruption are more pronounced in Africa where poverty is rife and the majority are still reliant on the Government for their basic living requirements.

Such that when a government official gets away with money intended to drill a borehole or build a school, the effects of the absence of this borehole or school in the community will be detrimental to the livelihoods of the people in the community.

2. Contrary to media reports Thabo Mbeki never said that HIV does not cause AIDS. He was of the opinion that if AIDS was a syndrome there had to be more causes identified other than only HIV.

Thabo Mbeki also toke a firm stance aganist pharmaceutical companies who had unethical double standards in their prescription of ARVs. Yes, it is not a theory but it is fact that developed countries will make prescriptions for ARVs for developing countries that are not consistent with how the drugs are administered in their own countries. And to add to this, most Africans countries can not afford to follow the same prescriptions as the developed world. Again, Africans are disadvantaged due to poverty.

3. Relations between countries can be stronger than we perceive; in 1994 Zimbabwe was ready to proceed with the land redistribution programme but they intentionally delayed because they did not want cause panic in South Africa, particularly with White South Africa because Apartheid had just ended and the South African government wanted to make it clear that they wanted to build South Africa together - black and white.  Land redistribution across the limpopo at such a time could have the wrong message about that was going to happen to whites in South Africa and upset the peace and stability that had just been developed .

4. There is a difference between the old guard and the new guard in politics. The old guard will always feel as though the sacrifices they made to liberate nations are not adequately compensated. During the time that they are willing to die for a nation their personal interests are shelved. Once the liberation is attained these personal interests resurface now coupled with a sense of entitlement.
For the new guard it is not much to do with entitlement but mainly greed. They observe the wealth of the old guard and are awakened to the prospect of wealth for themselves and their families.
This leads to an unhealthy appetite for power that is not fuelled by the calling to serve but by an understanding that the more power you yield the more wealth you can amass and protect oneself from the risk of imprisonment.

5. Passage on Zimbabwe -  ' As a facilitation team we decided to stick to the SADC mandate, not just because it was binding on the facilitator but also because it was the best way in which a resolution of the conflict in Zimbabwe could be found. A win - win solution for Zimbabwe held better prospect than a win -lose solution at the time. The regime change approach wanted a win- lose solution but it never stated clearly how this was to be achieved. An 'Orange Revolution' was not possible in the Zimbabwe situation at that time. Elections had failed to produce universally accepted results and the MDC's 'Final Push' campaign had proved that the opposition did not have the support it needed, for whatever reason, to force a regime change.
The other way would have been the use of force. This was too radical an option in the Zimbabwean context, given its history.
For any rational person dialogue between Zimbabweans was the only way to resolve the crisis. Because we believed this we were determined to hold the course.'  (page 96 -97)