Imperialism in South Africa: A Reply to Phatse Justice Piitso

In his piece, "SA Imperialism vs the revolution," Phatse Justice Piitso illustrates his truly worrisome non-democratic credentials. Despite paying lip service, inter alia, to voter choice, his partisan derision of the DA as an imperialist force seeking to "protect Apartheid ownership patterns," is as bereft of logic as it is truth.

The DA has supported, and will continue to support truly broad-based empowerment, that seeks to reverse the pernicious effects wreaked by Apartheid and colonialism.

At a cynical level, assuming any of Piitso's attacks had merit, which they do not, the DA has a vested interest to support empowerment. By doing so, the DA increases its appeal to more black voters. It has no hope in hell of winning any elections nationally, and thus truly implementing its "neo colonialist" agenda if it does not.

Ironically, it is the ANC's conception of empowerment that is more neo colonialist than the DA's! For under the ANC, it is clear for all to see, that empowerment only benefits a few, politically well-connected individuals and not the masses of our people, as it should.

For under the ANC, white capital and its "power" remains relatively unchanged. There are a few, by comparison, new black entrants into realms of power, influence and money, but it is only those few. And one can see why: provided the ANC facilitates a conducive climate to ensure that those who benefit from its magnanimity in handing out opportunities return the favour, it has no interest, nor incentive, to truly change the power dynamics of South Africa. It can accommodate white capital provided it has its own share. Admittedly, as it feels entitled to more, it may take more, but fundamentally, the dynamics remain the same.

In fact, the current model of empowerment, when coupled with the ANC's outright incompetence when it comes to delivering the social security and education needed for sustainable and meaningful change to occur, leads one to believe that it is the ANC which is willing to collude with white capital; to accommodate its continued dominance provided that it and its acolytes can benefit to.

But more than this, the DA's support of empowerment is a manifestation of its belief in the open opportunity society for all. It is a proud liberal, non-racial, non-sexist tradition which the DA, despite Piitso's protestations to the contrary, has come to represent.

His argument that the DA's defence of private property is evidence of its neo colonialism is as false as it is misleading. In fact, Lindiwe Mazibuko had spoken a few days before on the DA's belief that the transformation of land ownership is the real challenge to transformation. Piitso's simplistic solution, no doubt brought on by principle, and nothing to do with the popularity of the EFF, is as dangerous as it is unworkable, and there are scores of examples to support why that is the case.

But, economic empowerment is a short-term measure which allows immediate relief whereas education and state-capacity allows the long-term, generational transformation that South Africa must experience. Unlike the ANC, the DA supports both.

Notwithstanding his unsubstantiated assertion about there being a sunset clause to transformation, Piitso offers no critique of the DA's positioning on any policies nor of its record in government. He simplistically engages in inaccurate stereotyping and reductionism. He would do himself and the level of discourse in general greater favours were he to engage with the substance

For if he truly believed that, at the next elections, "our people will been afforded an opportunity to elect the true public representatives of their own choice," then he would respect many people's choice, and indeed many more people's intended choice, to vote for the DA, or anyone, over his revolutionary Alliance.

Instead of respecting democracy, and voter choice, Piitso takes swathes of South Africa's electorate, if not all of it, for idiots, who are easily duped by colonialists parading around as democrats. If anything, his baseless, specious attacks on the DA prove who the phoney democrats are.

If his articulation of political intolerance is representative of wider sentiment with the ANC, then we indeed have much to fear. But, it is hoped that despite Piitso's sustained misinformation, voters will do what is in their and the country's best interest. Piitso himself puts it best.

"Throughout the history of human development, elections have proven to be a universally accepted system through which people can use their democratic right to vote, to determine power relations in society. It is for this reason that our people understand the political significance of the forth coming elections to be an opportunity afforded to them by their struggles, to determine their own destiny."

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