Bonginkosi Khanyile appeared at home in the Umkhonto we Sizwe Party as did Boy Mamabolo, an ANC MP, in the backbenches of the hallowed hall that houses representatives of the people in Cape Town.
Khanyile’s language was as radical as that of some of his mentors who earlier tried to pursue a version of radical economic transformation, without much success, within the ANC.
Like a younger version of Julius Malema, the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, Khanyile seemed to suffer the misguided belief that he needed to sound more militant and radical even when the occasion didn’t require it. He is feisty but also reckless. Just like Malema was expelled by a Jacob Zuma-led ANC, Khanyile seems almost out the door at the Zuma-led MK Party. He has been told he would no longer lead the youth. The writing is on the wall.
In the ANC, Mamabolo took his party to court on an urgent basis in what appears a desperate bid to remain a parliamentarian — and the court told him his impending unemployment is not urgent. His gripe is that someone arbitrarily removed his name from the list of those sent to parliament to serve the people of South Africa.
But he too would have earlier appeared more at home in the ANC’s backbenches where he is not remembered for much in the last five years — except his spirited attack on Malema in defence of President Cyril Ramaphosa following the 2020 state of the nation address.
Some may argue Mamabolo is remembered more for his black and white attire, for which he was ridiculed as being more appropriate for Our Perfect Wedding than for parliament, than for his contribution. To be fair, many within parliament broadly and the ANC, specifically, are not unlike him, which explains why he is perplexed about his removal when he perfectly fits the archetype. If the ANC puts on its list discredited state capture candidates such as Malusi Gigaba and not Mamabolo, it is clear he must reconsider what he does with his life.
Now Reddy and Khanyile have been warned by MK Party to behave. They were useful initially to draw attention to the MK Party. Now the party wants to clean up.
Khanyile hasn’t said much since the MK Party showed him who is boss. But before that he told all and sundry “if they remove MK and remove president Zuma as the face of the campaign, there won’t be elections in South Africa.”
When many who didn’t know who he was asked how such an infantile politician could proclaim anarchy without much regard for our police, defence force and intelligence, he had a ready-made answer: “What do we do with this military which they are going to unleash? The soldiers were defeated by the July (2021) unrest. Do you think they can stop MK? Unleash all police officers, and we will meet toe-to-toe.”
The point, of course, being that this wet-behind-the-ear politician was among a dozen picked up by police in relation to the riots that devastated KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng, claiming more than 350 lives. Even though charges against Khanyile didn’t stick, those who engaged with him or even gave him a responsibility to lead the youth, knew exactly the type of anarchy he was capable of.
When Visvin Reddy, another MK party leader, made irresponsible statements about riots, it simply cemented the view that Khanyile was not an odd one out within the MK Party. Reddy had said: “We are sending a loud and clear message that if these courts, which are sometimes captured, try to stop the MK there will be anarchy in this country. There will be riots that have never been seen in this country. There will be no election. No South African will go to the polls if MK is not on the ballot.”
Now Reddy and Khanyile have been warned by MK Party to behave. They were useful initially to draw attention to the MK Party. Now the party wants to clean up. There is no permanent friendships in politics, after all, just aligned interests. The party has already secured its name through a victory against the ANC in the electoral court and, this week, its victory to have Zuma as the face of the party. There will be no need for riots. Not now, it seems. Khanyile and Reddy — and elsewhere Mamabolo — have suddenly become expendable.
Which way now?
To serve as one of the leaders, either in a political party or parliament, must be cherished as such: service to humanity. Not a career to pursue at all costs. When the party says the party, as it were, is over for you, as MK Party has said to Khanyile and the ANC, though not in so many words, to Mamabolo, the affected leaders must dust off their qualifications and pursue life elsewhere. But to force to serve (including even going to court as if entitled to serve) is, itself, a contradiction of service.
Our politicians have treated their positions as symbols of power and/or earning streams when these must simply be about society’s underdogs who need true representatives of the people to step up to help. Even when positions are taken away arbitrarily, servant leaders must have no problem because they don’t need titles to serve.
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