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Udo W Froese Correspondent
DESPITE democracy, transparency, a Bill of Rights, a liberal Constitution, as well as freedom of association, of choice, of movement and of speech, South Africa’s political opposition, academia and media shy away from addressing the secret Sunset Clauses, which apartheid-president FW de Klerk and his friend, Joe Slovo, brought to the CODESA negotiations pre-1994. The Sunset Clauses remain secret to date.

However, there is an obsession with democracy, transparency, the constitution, the judiciary and the rule-of-law, not to mention Nkandla, rugby and cricket. A clear line of political opportunism looks the other way when in actual fact and particularly, real politick needs to be addressed. However, the opposition to the ANC is vocal on president Zuma’s private residence and the EFF dress code in Parliament.

The ill-gotten properties of the apartheid regime elite in the former Bantustans, in Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Mauritius, Namibia, Paraguay, Uruguay and the Seychelles would be listed with the department of public works and others. Again, neither the opposition, nor the academia, nor the media spent as much as a paragraph on those properties and their owners. Political opportunism ignores the real issues. It focuses on soft targets such as Nkandla, refuses to debate the Sunset Clauses and the gerrymandering of the notorious Demarcation Board. In that context the democratic debate remains on the periphery. In other words, they agree to debate democracy, but disagree to address the cornerstone that formed South Africa’s democracy – the Sunset Clauses and the Demarcation Board, that make democracy almost unworkable.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance went to court to demand the spy tapes. To date it seems that there was nothing much in those spy tapes. But, the court actions are mere side issues. True democrats should have addressed the Sunset Clauses and the gerrymandering of the Demarcation Board. Is the above-mentioned not deception on the highest level? There seems to be a consensus that unites all opposition parties, academia and the media to sing the same hymn from the same hymnbook to the same tune, avoiding the country’s realities that actually need to be brought out into the open, such as the secret Sunset Clauses and the gerrymandering of the Demarcation Board. Such vote manipulation boils down to electoral fraud.

As long as the Sunset Clauses remain secret and unpublished, corruption will never end and people will be compromised. Another issue that needs a free national democratic debate is the proportional representation, which was implemented through electoral laws.

The ruling ANC had agreed on proportional representation. One of the respected senior members of the ANC NEC and NWC reminded this writer, “Twenty-one years since the first democratic elections it would be advisable for the ANC to free itself from the traps of the pre-1994 negotiations and return to one-person, one-vote system of a constituent assembly. The majority of South Africans in the struggle led by OR Tambo, Albert Luthuli, Robert Sobukwe, Chris Hani, Govan Mbeki, Anthony Lembede, Duma Nokwe, Dan Tloone, Moses Kontana and Mark Shope, as well as the numerous freedom fighters, perished in the war against apartheid, which was defined by the UN as “crime against humanity”. They fought for freedom against an evil, exclusive and elitist colonial-apartheid system. Their ideal was a one-person, one-vote system in a constituent assembly to set all South Africans free. They fought for the implementation of the Freedom Charter,” the old ANC NEC member explained.

He continued, “It is disappointing to observe that the Freedom Charter is no longer discussed. No platforms have been created to debate the Freedom Charter. Hence, opportunistic political parties such as the “Economic Freedom Fighters” (EFF) and the “Congress of the People” (COPE) make efforts in their deception to claim that they will address the Freedom Charter. The real freedom fighters would turn in their graves.”

Meanwhile, there are no serious policy debates. In stead, institutionalised armchair academics and the media encourage the EFF and the DA to commit anarchy in order to bring about a failed state. The mindset “I told you so. Blacks (ANC) can’t manage a state!”, prevails. The senior ANC NEC member further explains, “The honourable action to take now would be to lead the debate on the Freedom Charter, publish all Sunset Clauses and dismantle the Demarcation Board. The fundamental key to a good future for all would be the economic policies. Industrialisation needs to be fostered and a technological hub needs to be created. But, this cannot be part of the industrial and economic elite. It should never land in those hands, as it would certainly be destroyed.”

“You can see how the IMF-World Bank keep their stranglehold on Third World countries, continuously destroying emerging markets through misleading, bad policies. The Breton Woods Institutions have never come in good faith. Why would they now?” The ANC would need to develop a strategy within the ambit of BRICS. The BRICS Development Bank currently based in Shanghai, China, should be kept close to. Patriotic capitalism would best be promoted, as that would not withhold cash, but reinvest it in the local economies. The majority of the foreign owned companies do not reinvest anywhere in South Africa and the SADC region. They rather hoard their capital, hindering local economic development. These owners play politics. Hence, there is an upward spiral of unemployment of 25 percent, as recorded by Stats-SA.

• Udo W. Froese, is a non-institutionalised, independent political- and socio-economic analyst, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. His twitter handle: @theotherafrika. You can also follow his blog: theotherafrika.wordpress.com