THE ELITE ARE RATTLED INDEED (PART2)

Selby Vusimusi Moyo
PAC Activist

By Selby Moyo
Activist

Any organisation that claims to be fighting for the interests of the people but is not seen to be supportive of the grassroots movements will soon lose legitimacy.

As such they will be isolated, and even castigated by these movements who will feel they are on their own.

Grassroots movements, when well-organised, have the potential to overshadow established political organisations.

When that happens, such established political organisations can plummet in influence and deteriorate to ethe level of extinction.

Hence, their salvation lies in them joining hands with the emerging grassroots voices.

It is the governing party that receives the most pounding when grassroots movements start garnering support for themselves.

The civil movements which win the support of the masses and opposition parties pose as strong competitors for government power and once strengthened, the grassroots organisations erode the support of even the strongest governing party.

The ANC in South Africa finds itself in such a dicey situation and so far it is losing support when one considers the recent “divorce” from the ANC by its Tripartite Alliance partner in the form of the South African Communist Party. ( SACP)

This means the ANC is now relying on its partnership with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) for survival, but votes for the ANC by workers is not something that is guaranteed as many of them are not satisfied with the performance of the trade unions and the Tripartite Alliance as a whole in saving the few job opportunities that are available, and this may result in many of them (workers) taking individual decisions to vote for any party that has promise.

At this point people are no longer that besmitten with ideology because they are looking at organisations that will bring change.

This as they have now realised that the governing elite are getting richer while they do not make life any better for the poor citizens who get hungrier and hungrier every day.

In as much as many among the poor may not be conscious in the sense of fully articulating their circumstances, they have a common understanding in as far as their poverty is concerned, and they want a quick solution in this regard.

And once they stop listening to the governing elite after realising that they have been lied to, they tend to unleash havoc.

Once they realise that there is nothing that binds them to continue believing the lies of the elite class, they gain power for a rebellion.

As American Philosopher Ted Robert Gurr has established in his seminal 1970 book titled “Why Men Rebel,” people rise in rebellion because of deprivation.

Indeed, this has not been hidden by the masses who have taken to the streets and the fact that migrants have become the focus in this regard is accidental; they happened to be in the middle of long brewing grievances, and now they are seen as compounding long-standing problems which are so numerous to the point that the little pie cannot serve the indigenous population, so to speak.

This is a natural social reaction; any social misunderstanding has a scapegoat, but no one can deny that underneath the negative attitude towards the immigrants lies reasons for the upheaval, and those reasons have been registered with authorities.

What the elite class endeavours to do under such circumstances is to attempt to stop the situation from deteriorating to the extent of an upheaval.

They may want to paint the leaders of grassroots organisations as instigators of chaos, or that they do not understand what they are doing.

Even those who are no longer in government will want to give their views which are contrary to the grievances of grassroots leaders and undermine their actions in every way.

But some in the grassroots organisations have noticed this tactic and have called these detractors’ bluff.

Currently, there’s a video of an agitated Minister in the Presidency who still wants to castigate members of these civil organisations as being unappreciative of the efforts of the government.

In another video, former President Thabo Mbeki appeared infuriated, and suggested that the grassroots movements are confused and may not understand economics regarding the causes of unemployment in the country.

Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, probably recalling his “superior logic” days in the EFF, was not shy to call the grassroots activists “lumpen revolutionaries.”

This Marxist speak was used in 2022 mainly in reference to the instigators of the July 2021 riots, but not directly.

The term would in some cases be used against people who might be right over what they are fighting for, which is not approved by those who benefit from power, or are somehow connected to power.

German Philosopher Karl Marx used the term “lumpen proletariat” to describe those people who are hard-up; who have been vomited by the job environment and were hassling.

Other people consider these people dangerous, chaotic and a scum of the world.

It is quite interesting how Dr Ndlozi uses the term “lumpen.”

If we go by the definitions of others, we will find that his reference has some amount of recognition if not respect for the so-called lumpens.

The “lumpen proletariat” may be dangerous, chaotic or scum, but he nevertheless acknowledges that they are “revolutionaries;” albeit lumpen revolutionaries.

Yet Dr Ndlozi could be considering himself and those who support his view as ” the true revolutionaries.”

Then how how does he miss the fact that some really true and tested revolutionaries have sought to mobilise and organise the grassroots masses because they saw this class of people as strategic, this as they (the grassroots masses) have nothing to lose but the proverbial chains binding them to poverty, as Marx would have it.

For instance, instead of isolating them, Mao Zedong used the strategic nature of the lumpen proletariat to gain victory for the Chinese revolution.

Indeed, you have to be a true revolutionary to see revolutionary potential and if you agree with my assessment, acclaimed Malcolm X ( Al Hajj Shabaazz) could have fitted the definition of a lumpen, but he became one of the most formidable revolutionaries the world has ever known.

Now would Dr Ndlozi append the same label to Shabazz.

Maybe he didn’t mean it in a bad way, considering how he used the contrast in that phrase.

But this only goes to show how cunning politicuans are, and I believe Dr Ndlozi is still a politician right?

Or maybe let’s just say he is a member of the elite and has dared to insult and undermine grassroots people in very subtle ways.

Or perhaps Dr Ndlozi’s double speak didn’t mean any harm after all.