Three separate pronouncements involving suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, ANC presidential hopeful Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and and ANC ex-president Jacob Zuma reminded us that even normally rational people have the capacity to descend into delusion, especially with an election around the corner.
The distance between politicking and delusion in politics isn’t that far, it seems.
Magashule, suspended by the ANC after his arrest relating to a R255m tender corruption scandal in the Free State, told the media recently that he would be nominated for leadership positions ahead of the ANC’s elective conference in December.
“Once I’m nominated, I’m nominated. Nobody can stop me,” he said. In other words, in Magashule’s mind, there’s still a great chance that he could return to the hallowed halls of power at Luthuli House he once waltzed through daily before his suspension.
Meanwhile, it’s become clear to most that Magashule is, in the upcoming party elections, unelectable because of his legal woes. So clear is this, that even those regions considered aligned to what is loosely termed the radical economic transformation (RET) faction of the ANC are not even making an effort to nominate him. The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is the only province so far that has not nominated President Cyril Ramaphosa to become ANC president. And even this province had no space for Magashule in its leadership position preferences.
Yet he believes once he’s nominated, nobody could stop him. But who is nominating him? Author Roger Cohen advises that people must “never underestimate the human capacity for delusion”.
Dlamini-Zuma, though, is often sober in her judgment. It is possible that the ANC’s fast-approaching election conference, and the frustration occasioned by limited endorsements so far, could be forcing her to behave in ways that cast doubt on her ability to eschew delusion for rationality.
People have a habit of inventing fictions they will believe wholeheartedly in order to ignore the truth they cannot accept.
— Libba Bray, US writer
In a recent interview, she denounced the ruling party’s step-aside rule as unjust. She said: “Where the problem lies is that the country’s laws say we are innocent until we are proved guilty. The law of the ANC almost says we are guilty until proved innocent. What kind of justice is that? Justice should be they investigate you once they’ve charged you and the trial must start within months.”
Let’s ignore, for now, the loud silence on this matter since it was pronounced as a decision of the party. Now that elections are less than three months away, it has become unjust. Importantly though, she appears to deliberately conflate notions of justice and political morality. Indeed, the country’s laws say a person is innocent until proven guilty. And that is the law. The ANC, though, took a decision to set its bar a little higher to deal with the stench of corruption that has been gnawing at its standing in society.
The argument for this seems perfectly rational: individuals within the ANC who are implicated in unlawful activity should not entangle the party in their malfeasance. In other words, the party must be dissociated with what is individual but also unsanctioned, suspected criminal activity.
This surely can’t be a bad thing. In an ideal world, it would be even better when individuals associated with the ANC don’t get mired in corruption. But Dlamini-Zuma seems to have now taken on the fight for those who are charged with criminal conduct, saying postponements in courts seem to disadvantage some. It’s possible that this is a purely rational decision on her part to associate with the tainted group or that it’s a delusional appeal to a coalition of the disaffected in a desperate bid to sustain a flailing attempt at becoming ANC president.
Lastly, Zuma, who is awaiting a court decision on his controversial early release from jail on account of ill health, announced this week that he is healthy enough to be the ruling party’s national chair. Quite apart from his bodily strength and wellness, Zuma is of the view that he has much still to contribute not just to the ANC but the country too.
Put differently, Zuma’s view of himself is that he adds credibility, the main thing the party needs to win elections, and gravitas to the ANC machinery. Ahem! Libba Bray, an American writer, notes “people have a habit of inventing fictions they will believe wholeheartedly in order to ignore the truth they cannot accept”.
If Zuma believes in his own credibility, Dlamini-Zuma believes her appeal to the tainted will save her supporters’ bid to make her ANC president, or Magashule believes he stands a chance at nomination ahead of December, then we “underestimate the human capacity for delusion”.
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