'The politics of fear'

The politics of fear are holding South Africans back from demanding changes to their lives, said Agang SA leader Dr Mamphela Ramphele yesterday.

Speaking at Wits University, she said South Africans were held back by the fear that being critical of the government, or voting for a party other than the ANC, would affect their livelihoods.

"Central to the fear is the extent to which the governing party has successfully conflated the person of the president ... and the state.

"As a result, poor people accept the notion that social grants are the gift of the governing party rather than being entitlements to them as citizens ...

"We have not yet learned that we can turn to our constitution to protect us from abuses of power ..."

Business leaders such as Nedbank chairman Reuel Khoza have come under fire from the ANC for raising governance issues.

FNB was forced to cancel an advertising campaign after the ANC protested and hauled the bank's leadership to its Luthuli House headquarters.

But ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe dismissed Ramphele's claim.

"I don't want to talk to Mamphela because she is running a political party she is trying to construct. I am not going to help her build it.

"If she chooses to form a political party, she will play in that field and that field is going to be rough on her, as it is rough on us."

Last week, ANC Gauteng secretary David Makhura said the party planned to set up an election "war room".

He said it would triple the number of election volunteers from 10000 to 30000 in preparation for next year's polls.

"We are going to pay special attention to the youth and the middle-class in suburbs and townships across the province," he said.

The national elections next year will be a test for the ANC.

A number of polls have indicated that it is losing its grip on young South Africans.

As election fever hots up, major parties will rely on young people to drive their election campaigns.

The Mail & Guardian recently reported that an ANC-commissioned survey had revealed that there was a growing distancing of the party from its supporters.

Citing infighting, corruption among senior party leaders, poor service delivery, unemployment and inequalities, the survey found that the middle class and the rich were deserting the party.

The survey also found that the unemployed young, who make up more than half of South Africa's population, could be easily swayed to vote for opposition parties.

The ANC has undertaken a widespread clean-up to root out ill-discipline and factionalism ahead of next year's polls.

Last week, the DA launched a Twitter campaign, "Know your DA", to dispel the negative image it claims has been built by the ANC to discourage young blacks from joining its ranks.

It launched another campaign that compares the apartheid National Party government to that of the ANC.

Also riding on the past, Ramphele said that if Sharpeville protesters were not afraid to protest against the brutalities of apartheid, South Africans should not be scared of the ANC. She slated the deteriorating education system and high unemployment - labelling them "a betrayal of the young people who won us our freedom".

Ramphele pulled no punches , saying public-sector corruption had extended to a "private palace costing more than R200-million for [President Jacob Zuma] at Nkandla, in KwaZulu-Natal".

"And yet, where is the sense of public outrage at how this corruption robs us of our future? Where are the voices calling out for urgent change?"

Ramphele said about 10000 young people had volunteered for Agang work and would form part of her election campaign to be launched soon .