The Keynote Address to the Western Cape Congress of AZAPO at the University of Western Cape 19 May 2001 by Nkutšoeu Motsau (National Political Education Secretary of AZAPO)

  Real Governance for Real Empowerment

  I cannot hide my uneasiness with the wording of your theme. In all my political involvement, the word "governance" did not feature much in our political vocabulary; instead, government was used. Governance gained much currency, both in speech and print, only after the new political dispensation in this country. It is no wonder since every political change is normally accompanied by its own political stock-phrases. In our case, these words and phrases are commonly used by our learned political featherheads. And they do so, outside of duping the masses, for no reason other than pomp and the thrill that they get from the avoidance of the use of normal and ordinary words. That is to say, for want of something that sets them apart from the common herd.

Quite a few of these political stock-in-trade phrases and words have suddenly cropped up and flourished in recent years, all worthless. They are only good-for-nothing good-sounding words. Let me quote a few for you:

Transparency, stake-holders, community based organisations, sufficient consensus, the rainbow nation, the people have spoken, capacity building, African Renaissance, truth and reconciliation, Reconstruction and Development Programme, affirmative action, gender equality and, of course, Madiba Magic.

Black economic empowerment is one of them. I suspect that the authors of our theme know this. Perhaps that is why they put "Real" before "Empowerment", meaning that they realise that "black economic empowerment" on its own, without "Real", is a fake. And now they have forked out "Real Empowerment". In my view the "Real" does not succeed in making the phrase any the worthier; but succeeds rather singularly in making it "Really worthless".

This disease of playing with words in order to deceive the people was uncovered long ago. Lenin called it phrase mongering. I am calling upon you to consciously resist it.

That is as far as the letter of our theme goes. The spirit of our theme is "Empowering governance", to borrow from the popular parlance. And this is really what I want to talk about.

The main reason of the existence of AZAPO is to take over the government so that our people may exercise and enjoy political independence and democracy in a country where social and economic justice reigns. It must be clear to all of us from the very onset that AZAPO cannot achieve this objective without the people. AZAPO can only achieve this with, through and by the conscious will and support of the people. Anything less that that will remain a sham, an empty shell that needs the loud beating of the drums of phrase mongering for justification.

Speaking from the point of view of a province, from the point of view of this province, the Western Cape Province, where we are not represented in any of the three layers of government, I must say we have a daunting task ahead. Remember, our task is to take over this provincial government, all its local councils and district councils, including the so-called Cape Town Metro Council. I want to invite you to deliberate on what it takes, both qualitatively and quantitatively, to achieve that task. Just by way of example, the number of councillors we have got to replace, the number of cadres we have got to deploy in the localities to spread the gospel of BC and organise branches and units, including the training of these foot soldiers and the new councillors themselves, not to say the training of party agents and things. Comrades, I invite you to quantify this problem. The point is, before you can begin to solve a problem, you must first thoroughly understand it, its magnitude and complexity in order to be able to follow the threads of its ramifications.

As we painstakingly prepare to take the reigns of government, we must not neglect nor forget to prepare ourselves for that takeover. In a word, once we assume the reigns of government, we must simply drive away - implement our policies. It would seem unseemly if we should then be seen scurrying around in search of the learner driver's licences. Let us shape and hone our policies right now. Policies are not a product of hard and deep intellectual thinking. Policies come straight from the masses. Ours is simply to polish them.

We cannot have these policies, let alone know them, if our involvement with the masses of the people is minimal; if we are nowhere to be found among the people; if we are not helping and guiding them in their daily struggles - against the laws and the elements. We are not likely to gain the confidence of the masses, which is the key to electoral victory, if we are aloof. I invite you therefore, comrades, to seriously look into the issue of community involvement - what it entails, legal assistance for the poor, security of tenure for the farm workers, the establishment of economically viable projects, unionisation of the workers, inculcation of community awareness, self-reliance, protection against the officials. It is through these activities, among others, that we will come to learn the appropriate methods of resolving the problems of the masses and upon which to base our policy formulation guidelines. Simply put, the mass line is the only way forward.

The question of leadership is the most critical in every organisation. By it any organisation either thrives or dies. And so the training of leadership assumes the importance of critical significance. Our leadership at all levels (branch, region and province) must be trained to effectively deal with politico-ideological questions as well as managerial and administrative matters. This includes the self-cultivation of correct private and public conduct. Our leadership must be able to correctly handle problems relating to the relationship between the leadership and the membership, the leadership and the members of the public as well as the press.

Our leadership must be trained to institute sound and proper financial management systems and to encourage and allow free and healthy flow of information and correspondence both within the organisation and in dealing with those outside our organisation. In much the same way, a strong culture of democratic practice must pervade the conduct of all the business of the organisation. The principle of criticism and self-criticism must be the order of the day so as to notice and correct deviations and errors in time. I invite you comrades to seriously look into the question of the training of leadership and make appropriate recommendations.

The number one rule of war says: "Know your enemy as you ought to know yourself and you will win every contest". But what is to know your enemy? It is to know the strong and weak points of the enemy. You learn the strong points of the enemy in order not to take them head-on, in order to avoid them. If you don't, the enemy will crush you. And you learn the weak points of the enemy so that you can concentrate all your forces and energy on them. You must attack the weakest point, the point that the enemy is unable to defend; you must attack it with all your energy and ferocity. And when the enemy shows signs of succumbing follow up with loud and jubilant celebrations. That way you boost the fighting morale of your forces and destroy that of the enemy. Many such sustained campaigns, well orchestrated and properly managed, will have a bewildering shock effect on the enemy and the ever rising crescendo of small victories will drive the enemy mad. Isn't it said elsewhere: "those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad"?

What I am saying is, as in war - so in politics. Let us hence rout the venal politicians and the banal officials. Let us drag them before the courts; let us not allow the police, the soldiers, the traffic officers and the prison warders to drink in our shebeens in uniform; let us not allow the drivers of state vehicles to carry on private business with state vehicles; let us stop the fraudsters in the steps - those who siphon off pensioners' funds into their own pockets; let us not allow the persons behind the desks to mistreat the people, especially the old and the indigent. These are not secret campaigns. The better if the perpetrators know we are coming. Their salvation lies only in doing good. Let the wrath of the law and the people descend upon them. I invite you therefore, comrades, to sit around the issue of mass campaigns; set the parameters and time frames and plan for the shock troupers. Let those who dip their fingers in the public coffers and those who squander the political goodwill of the people have and know no rest - let us pursue them even unto the mountains.

I thank you for your ears comrades.