HEADLINE:   Thabo and Tony: end the hostilities

PUBLICATION: Cape Times

PAGE NUMBER: 8

AUTHOR:     Zubeida Jaffer

DATE:       2000-08-23 11:08:55

Thabo and Tony: End the hostilities 

zubeida jaffer

Parliamentary Editor

THE recent spat between Thabo Mbeki and Tony Leon has brought a certain unease. It is not as insignificant as some would have us believe. It tells a story of unfolding relations between the two major political parties most influential in determining our future course. The two parties unfortunately represent the broad racial divide.

The ANC in the main represents a black constituency. The DP a white. And it is this broad divide which has plagued us for so long that once again will be under the spotlight at next week's Racism Conference. 

The ebb and flow of racial tension can be expected to be a prominent feature of our national life. Time and time again, it demands careful navigation. We are once again poised at a moment which calls for true leadership.

Discussions at the broad level of principle will add little value to the national discourse. The principles of non-racialism in public life are spelt out in the Constitution and binds us all. There is nothing to be debated.

Fancy theories about why racism exists will provide some with an interesting intellectual exercise next week but will not take us further.

The challenge lies instead in how to give practical expression to the principles which we all have agreed upon. For this reason, the Mbeki-Leon exchange is important. Whether they wish to acknowledge it or not, their behaviour provides a marker for millions. If they are disparaging towards one another, they send out a strong message that this is an acceptable way of doing business.

Leon has led the way in designing this hostile relationship. He has continuously heaped blame on the ANC government, on Mbeki and his ministers. There is a widespread perception that he is insensitive to the feelings of black South Africans. That clever phrase, insensitive to black concerns, trip too easily off the tongue. 

Leon's criticism that Mbeki was prepared to flout scientific facts about Aids in favour of "snake-oil cures and quackery" touched a raw nerve. Although, he has been at pains to explain that he was referring specifically to the government's touting of the discredited Virodene, the damage has been done. Words somehow have the power of doing that. They fall heavily on the human psyche.

So do Mbeki's. His oblique reference to the "white politician" as often as six times during the delivery of the Oliver Tambo Memorial lecture has done most to fuel the sense of an unease. It somehow represents a shift away from the enormous generosity so consistently displayed by those who had for long been dispossessed.

Somehow it is expected that Leon, as opposition leader, be petty. There is a sneering lack of acknowledgement that black leaders have done in just six years what no white leader could do in centuries Ñ and that is to craft South Africa into a united, democratic country based on solid constitutional principles. 

But it is not expected of Mbeki because he is heir to a great tradition of leaders who rose above the personal. The miracle of a racial truce came in South Africa because of their consistent commitment to the policy of non-racialism. The generation nurtured by Luthuli, Tambo and Mandela were taught they were not fighting white people but fighting a system of white domination.

This constant education together with the ANC strategy of building a broad inclusive church was what made the South African miracle. The approach was always to reach out and to bring as many together in pursuit of the common goal. Now more than ever, that approach affirmed by history is needed to shift us into the next gear.

Mbeki should remember that there are millions of South Africans rooting for him. Millions who believe he will succeed. That is why they voted for him. He should not be overly sensitive about a small section of society who constantly suggest that he will not.

His anger suggests a defensiveness which does not become him and is uncharacteristic. He has won an election resoundingly. He has successfully navigated the transition from the Mandela era. He has most of all, to acclaim, put in place sound economic fundamentals unlike anything ever known in this country. 

And he is known to be the one who brokered the most difficult deals with the right-wing and in KwaZulu-Natal which has assured peace. He can afford to be generous with those who continue to be mean-spirited.

The public should demand that both men bring to national life a measure of civility which could relieve the present unease. Once again the weight rests more heavily on Mbeki. He is the only one who can channel the age-old anger from different sides of the racial divide towards a constructive engagement which could lead to greater harmony.

Unlike Leon, he is leader of his party, of government and of the state which obliges him constitutionally to "promote the unity of the nation".

The Constitution does not let Leon off the hook either. He is bound by the preamble to "heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights." Inordinate pressure should be brought to bear on him to curb his tongue.

The behaviour of both men grinds against the values of the Constitution which bind them. They should forego this in the interest of all. What a great moment it would be if Mbeki institutionalised regular meetings with Leon and Leon ceases to behave as petulantly as he has up until now?

In the end, South Africans, having endured prolonged tension, can well do with a breather. They do not need to become embroiled in fights with their compatriots. 

Instead, both white and black must be conscious of how they behave towards one another so that the huge tasks of poverty alleviation, crime-fighting and job-creation can be foremost in everybody's minds.

Mbeki has an obligation to lead in the tradition of those who have gone before him.