Bhekisisa Mncube Criticizes Professor William Gumede’s Rhetoric Against GNU Partnerships

One individual I hold in high regard in South African politics is Songezo Zibi, the leader of Rise Mzansi and the current Chairperson of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts.

When Zibi recognized a gap in the political landscape, he didn’t hesitate on the sidelines as a commentator or public intellectual.

Zibi rallied his supporters and made himself available for public office, engaging with integrity, rather than posturing.

In stark contrast, Professor Gumede conceals himself behind the guise of academia and commentary.

His article discussing the “ANC [African National Congress] failures that supposedly taint its GNU [Government of National Unity] partner,” singular, is indicative of this.

The piece is filled with non-sequiturs and subtle attempts to protect non-ANC members of the GNU from perceived reputational harm.

He contends that the GNU partner will face “tarnishment by association” with the ANC’s so-called “failed policies” and what he characterizes as the party’s “self-destruct mode… populist, ideological, or captured policies.”

Yet, oddly enough, not a single failed policy is explicitly named, save for a mention of the Value-Added Tax (VAT) increase, which, by any standard, cannot be classified as a failed policy.

In his opinion, which ANC policies are populist?

If they are both failed and captured, who exactly captured them, and what was the purpose?

Professor Gumede fails to delve into these essential specifics.

It can’t be both “failed” and “captured” without further explanation.

Which is it?

Who is supposedly hijacking ANC policymaking to the extent that the party is racing toward “self-destruct mode”?

The metaphor begins to break down.

Professor Gumede depicts the ANC as a malevolent strain of Covid-19, a virus that aims not just to weaken the host but seeks total destruction.

This imagery is vivid yet utterly ridiculous.

As a student of history and political science, I recognize that political decay generally stems from flawed strategies or external pressures, such as the emergence of the uMkhonto weSizwe party, rather than from intentional self-sabotage.

No political party pursues state power merely to obliterate itself.

While I have long criticized the ANC (see my Muck Rack profile), I have done so with specificity: I hold the party accountable for unfulfilled promises.

I have analyzed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Addresses since 2018.

I even penned a three-part series for the Daily Maverick as a modest contribution to public discourse. I refrained from resorting to harsh, vitriolic language like “nonsensical.”

That type of rhetoric implies a lack of academic rigor and perhaps hints at an eagerness to elevate non-GNU members into government, not through coalition but by consensus, thereby sidestepping genuine political negotiation.

It’s unclear why Gumede feels the need to speak on behalf of the non-ANC GNU members.

Does he regret not diving into the depths of party politics and abandoning the underpaid and demanding role of commentator and academic?

I’ve always favored slogans over intellectual sparring; no one can accuse me of intellectual pretentiousness.

Here’s my bet: Professor Gumede is frustrated.

Not because the ANC has suddenly transformed into something unrecognizable; he has held that perspective for a long time, but due to the rapid disintegration of his beloved Moonshot Pact, which fell apart faster than a sandcastle in a storm. The same figures he once depicted as principled alternatives – the Democratic Alliance (DA), ActionSA, and others – have since collaborated with the ANC in the GNU.

This alliance is not born out of loyalty or ideological alignment but political pragmatism.

That is the reality of multiparty democracy.

His disappointment appears less rooted in policy and more in political strategy.

Gumede’s suggestion that non-ANC GNU partners challenge policies in court, rather than within Parliament, where they hold an electoral mandate, reveals a strange lack of faith in democratic contestation. Coalitions require compromise, not legal confrontations.

Breaking news, Gumede: aside from the DA, GNU partners are content. Their participation in ideological gymnastics is part of the political landscape.

They entered this coalition fully aware. They have no obligation to stay.

I doubt they need a Wits University professor to advocate on their behalf.

South Africans deserve more than rhetorical attacks disguised as governance analysis.

They deserve honest discussions around the intricacies of coalition-building and the wisdom to recognize that the political arena is seldom clear-cut, frequently messy, and perpetually shaped by political trade-offs. Gumede opts for ideological purity; I prefer realism.

However, the most absurd claim from a professor, no less, is that South African foreign policy is antiquated. Is criticizing Israel for genocide outdated?

Is it outdated to question the United States, the latest leader to coddle Russian President Vladimir Putin?

Wasn’t it Trump who humiliated the Ukrainian leader in front of the global press, demanding minerals and suggesting Ukraine should cede parts of its territory to Russia?

Is this the modern approach to diplomacy and handling the complexities of geopolitics, Professor Gumede?

Let’s “update” our foreign policy then: restore our embassy in Israel, recall our ambassadors from Iran (notorious figures), America (where Nelson Mandela’s arrest was facilitated by the CIA), Russia (an aggressor against a sovereign state), and Britain (bear in mind colonialism and the theft of our arts and gold).

Is that your recommendation? Should we disconnect from the Palestinian cause and embrace Trumpism to salvage our interests?

As individuals of a similar generation, albeit with Songezo being younger than me, I believe we can learn much from him.

If you feel wronged by the captured, failed, and self-destructive policies that are presumably dragging South Africa down, then engage in the political realm (where, admittedly, the standards may be lower) and cease pretending to be a commentator when you are obviously a spokesperson for the DA.

*Bhekisisa Mncube is an author and columnist who received the national 2024 Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Award for columns and editorials, as well as the same category at the regional 2020 Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards. He contributes a regular column for the Daily Maverick. The opinions expressed by Bhekisisa Mncube do not necessarily reflect those of The Bulrushes.