EDITORIAL | Mbalula behaves like a pseudo-revolutionary blinded by luxury

Many in our politics are struggling with the art of subterfuge — telling the electorate one thing while doing another. To do this without being caught requires both skill and guile, commodities in short supply in ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula.

Revelations in the Sunday Times this weekend that Mbalula arrived at Robben Island like a rock star on a luxurious boat borrowed from a superrich government contractor is shocking and in bad taste. He then arrived fashionably late, hogging, deliberately or not, attention. As if not enough, Mbalula left early, making those who remain his audience for his dramatic exit. What is a rock star without an audience?

Robben Island is a place where liberation fighters including Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Dikgang Moseneke and many others faced their hardest battles. The system tried to destroy their yearning for freedom by making them crush stones, keeping them in solitary confinement and denying them their humanity. The island is therefore a sacred place that symbolises our triumph against evil. That it is not a place for luxurious showmanship is stating the obvious. But, at times, the obvious needs to be mentioned when dealing with leaders whose tone deafness is a tad higher than normal.

In commemorating the ANC’s 113th anniversary in Khayelitsha, one of the poorest areas in Cape Town, the ANC wanted to send a message that it was aligned to and sympathises with the plight of the poor.

After the decline in electoral support to under 50% for the first time since the dawn of democracy, the ANC wanted to show that it took the message of renewal seriously. It was, as President Cyril Ramaphosa told the masses, now serious about rebuilding its brand damaged by allegations of corruption and distasteful display of often ill-gotten wealth.

Yet the party’s secretary-general saw nothing wrong in using a super luxurious boat to travel to a place that represented Mandela’s humiliation. In his defence, Mbalula’s office said the ANC did not pay for the boat. This, in their view, must excuse the display of luxury because it is reportedly free. And who believes in free lunches and free rides?

“We categorically reject the misrepresentation that the secretary-general’s transport choice was an indulgence in luxury. This operational decision was guided solely by practical and logistical considerations to ensure the efficient execution of a tightly packed programme,” the ANC said. In short, they mean Mbalula was busier than other ANC leaders and therefore deserving of luxury that should not worry anyone because it was free. Warped logic has a face.

This response is in spite of reflections by Ramaphosa last year after the electoral humiliation. “If ... we live lavish lifestyles that portray ourselves to be better than our people and appear to only look after our own, then not even the best communication strategy will be able to improve our standing among our people.”

If the ANC’s chief administrator is serious about renewal, he will pay attention to how he travels and what message that sends to not just ANC members but the broader public that must believe that the ANC has, indeed, learnt its lessons about why it is losing support.

But Mbalula’s tone deafness is not limited to luxury boats. Many will recall how he arrived at Inanda, a poor township northwest of Durban, in a R3m armoured Mercedes AMG G63 linked to Fort Hare graft-accused Anwar Khan ahead of the May general elections last year. Using a G-wagon in such a poor area is mindless. When society predictably revolted, the ANC Mbalula leads defended (and perhaps enabled) him, saying he did not choose his own transport.

But there’s no gainsaying the fact that he had an option to say “not this type of vehicle for me”. Whatever noble teachings the ANC elders had put in documents such as Through The Eye of the Needle, which outlined strict criteria for choosing ethical leaders, had escaped him as he threw T-shirts to peasants through the windows of the multimillion-rand car. The contradictions were lost on him. The nous to assure the poor he was a worthy representative while living large had escaped him.

Whether it’s the G63 or luxury boat, Mbalula should have thought about the message these gaffes were sending to voters, but again, when you are tone deaf you need explanations for things that are plain. Just as today he needs to be convinced that riding in a luxurious boat is, in itself, a jarring exercise regardless of how busy he considers himself to be or whether the ANC paid for it. The message the luxury boat sends to the people of Khayelitsha is just plain wrong.

Luxury, especially when not paid for, blinds pseudo-revolutionaries and makes nonsense of the ANC's message about renewal. Real revolutionaries are conscious of the messages their actions send out to society.