An organisation calling itself the “Unity 22 Forum” has made the race for the ANC presidency rather curious with its calls for mining mogul and Confederation of African Football (CAF) president, Patrice Motsepe, to become the next president of the party and by extension, of SA.
The forum is comprised of several members of the ANC and the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco). It argues that the ANC is marred by serious political squabbles which could cost the party votes in the 2024 national elections, and that having the billionaire businessman as the president would salvage the party. It claims that Motsepe, due to having his own money, would not steal “even a penny” from the poor.
The idea that billionaires make great presidents because they are incapable of stealing from the poor is not new. It was touted in Zimbabwe by citizens who argued that billionaire businessman Strive Masiiwa would make a great president because he would not steal.
The “Make America Great Again” camp used to make the same argument about former president Donald Trump. Masiiwa did not run for president, but the legacy of Trump’s corruption is well documented.
The man refused to disinvest from his business interests while in office and went so far as to conduct official state business in his numerous properties, and to promote them to foreign governments, corporate lobbyists and senior officials. This resulted in millions of dollars in revenue for the Trump Organisation.
Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya’s first president and president of the biggest economy in East Africa, also sought to lead on a ticket of being too rich to steal. But the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists obtained and published records of his and his family’s secret fortune that is growing in offshore accounts.
According to the Pandora Papers, the largest investigation in journalism history which exposed a shadow financial system that benefits the world’s most rich and powerful, Kenyatta and his family have assets worth more than $30m – that is almost half a billion rand – hidden in a labyrinth of offshore accounts and complex companies.
The idea that rich people are incorruptible is ridiculous. There is abundant evidence that the rich, when in power, rarely ever transform economies. These are businesspeople whose priority is profit maximisation – and this surpasses some revolutionary conscience that some people imagine they possess.
It is for this reason that President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was a shareholder in Lonmin, put pressure on various arms of government, such as the police, to follow through with “concomitant action” when workers went on strike for higher wages.
At the time, he was campaigning for the deputy presidency of the ANC, which he would assume just four months after the Marikana massacre. Businesspeople are concerned with the bottom line and they treat countries like enterprises. This is the foundation on which corruption is built.
The idea that a “neutral” president “like Motsepe” is needed is ludicrous. The levels of poverty, unemployment and inequalities in our country are at crisis point. We need a government with the political will to take bold action in fashioning a higher civilisation.
This government must stop pandering to the interests of monopoly capital. It must invest in the empowerment of black people and the development of black communities – and have the courage to challenge selfish white interests that are an impediment to the country’s development.
Such a government cannot be neutral. It must be intentionally pro-poor and biased towards black people in particular. To be neutral in the injustice that is happening in SA is to choose the side of those perpetrating structural violence.
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