Brett Herron is the GOOD Secretary-General. Ironically, what South Africa’s right-wing movement is doing is highlighting the colour-coded inequality that remains such a strong feature of the land, says the writer.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane
Brett Herron
Emboldened by the democratic government’s choices not to hold anyone accountable for apartheid crimes, or narrow inequality by redistributing wealth, a multi-headed right-wing movement has emerged intent on protecting South Africa’s old economic status quo.
The movement comprises civil society organisations such as Afriforum and Solidariteit, with powerful friends in political parties the DA and FF+.
Together, they are responsible for the disturbingly racialized and polarising disinformation that has persuaded the US President Donald Trump to withdraw funding from SA.
But the original villain of the piece is the ANC which. Its failures to meaningfully transform the country’s economy and land holdings while in government for 30 years fuelled the belief that White South Africans had to all intents and purposes “got away with” apartheid.
They believe that they can no longer be held accountable for profound inequalities and unaddressed injustices – and that it’s time for SA “to move on”. Powerful people close to Trump share that view. In a recent interview, Joel Pollack – who once worked for former DA leader Tony Leon, and has been tipped for cadre deployment as US ambassador to SA – said of redress: “The world is tired of it. The world has moved on. They want to know how South Africa will build a better future."
While this is an appealing argument to those citizens with means, it is repulsive to most South Africans because it is devoid of considerations for justice, humanity or history. What it says is that millions of people who were deliberately under-skilled and excluded from the economy, who remain excluded 31 years into democracy, must continue to live in abject poverty and unsafe conditions. This is an untenable, unconstitutional and unsustainable position. South Africans of colour had much higher expectations of what the fruits of democracy would deliver them after 350 years of colonial and apartheid oppression by Whites.
When you live in a shack, or don’t have money to buy food for your children – and you know that the country’s economy and arable land remain largely in the hands of your former oppressors – it creates a tinder-box of unfairness. We saw in KwaZulu-Natal in July 2021 what it looks like when someone strikes a match. Surely the best thing for the long-term interests of Afriforum and DA members would be to live in a country where all citizens have something to lose.
By falsely claiming that government has effectively declared war on White people, or is conducting “a revenge project against Afrikaans”, as DA’s Helen Zille described BELA, the right-wing placed SA on Trump’s radar.
By causing the US to implement economic sanctions against SA, those spreading the disinformation are effectively committing economic sabotage. Despite the costs of falling out with the US, a very valuable trading partner, we can’t afford to back down.
To do so would be to legitimise what in many respects remain apartheid structures in SA, from land ownership, to spatial planning, to employment inequity. If this is what citizens wanted, they could simply vote the DA into power.
Ironically, what South Africa’s right-wing movement is doing is highlighting the colour-coded inequality that remains such a strong feature of the land. If the US takes the next step against SA by booting it out of the favoured trading position under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, it is White commercial farmers who will suffer most. The Constitution protects freedom of expression, with certain limitations. What the right wing is arguing is reckless and counter-productive to the well-being of the non-racial constitutional democracy.
* Herron is the GOOD Secretary-General