HENRY MASUKU: Van Onselen lacks facts and objectivity

Gareth van Onselen’s views when it comes to Mmusi Maimane and the launch of Build One SA (Bosa) are fundamentally flawed. His latest article came across as an ad hominem attack ("Mmusi Maimane: the ultimate politician”, September 28). It lacks facts and the professional objectivity expected of a working commentator.

It is clear that Van Onselen was not closely following the reasons  Maimane decided to launch Bosa. Bosa is a required pivot as a result of the failures of the electoral reform process. It has been explained in detail by our spokesperson, Mudzuli Rakhivhane, on various public platforms and in numerous publications.

In its June 2020 New Nation judgment the Constitutional Court found that the Electoral Act is unconstitutional because it does not allow for independent candidates to contest in provincial and national elections. Parliament was given two years to remedy it, but it kicked the legislation into touch. While the first deadline was missed and was followed by an extension application, there is no guarantee that the reform will be passed in time due to the Stalingrad tactics adopted by parliament.

More critically, the bill that has been drafted is defective and unconstitutional. It is not a constituency-based model, which is what the experts hired by the ministry of home affairs recommended, and it arbitrarily limits the seats that can be contested to 200 out of 400.

Furthermore, it creates higher thresholds for those who run as independents than those who run as a party. The bill will be challenged in court and even though the prospect of a legal victory is extremely high, it is a slow process that may not be concluded by the 2024 election.

This is the state of play. Van Onselen suggests Maimane must just run as an independent and convince other independents after the election to pass reforms. That is not his decision to make and it is a flawed argument — it ignores the fundamental issues that are defective in the bill, and also the uncertain outcome of the participation of independents in the next election.

It also places an unreasonable expectation for someone to participate in a competition under unfavourable and unfair conditions. As Maimane has said, if elections were the Comrades Marathon the new bill asks of independents to run the marathon backwards and barefoot. It’s a non-starter.

Maimane must do what he believes will be the fairest path to electability. It is unreasonable to say that he — and others — must either play by unfair rules or just sit and wait until the system is fixed. He must participate, and he must do what he believes will create the most strategic path for impact in the next parliament and the next national government.

There is value to his leadership of a political platform at this point. He is a national figure loved and respected across all provinces, and it is required of him to communicate with all citizens around his vision for education reform, for electoral reform and for an entrepreneurial education first economy.

Van Onselen also appears to be confused as to the nature of Bosa and how it aligns to the work we have done before. It is clear to all that Bosa is a political platform that holds as one of its aims electoral reform that will allow for direct elections and better representation and accountability. It will operate as a party with a constitution, a manifesto and a leadership structure.

As Bosa, we know exactly who our organisation is speaking to and what their aspirations are; we have engaged young South Africans who are unemployed, who are in the workspace and who have just started families. We know the economic and social frustrations of the people of SA, and most significantly we know they are not happy with the politics-as-usual approach.

The people of SA watch the proceedings in parliament with disdain; they are displeased to see the theatrics, the slow pace of passing legislation and the crinkum-crankum of our politics. Van Onselen is misled if he thinks we do not know who our audience is and what they want.

Lastly, as a former staff member and close associate of the DA, one must ask why Van Onselen doesn’t go after its leader, John Steenhuisen, who finds himself in the political equivalent of Davy Jones’s locker. He has no credible communications agenda, a scant public profile and spends his days giving platitude-laden speeches “to the nation” via the party’s Facebook channels.

Forget the nation, while the DA has more than 5,000 public representatives his past live Facebook address “to the nation” garnered a handsome 132 live viewers. While the country needs a firing DA, Van Onselen is firing his ammunition in the wrong direction.

The reality we are all facing is that our country is plagued by high levels of unemployment, crime and low levels of education. The political parties shouting at each other daily have failed to even tickle these problems. Something better is needed, something different is needed.

We at Bosa believe we have the right approach to government and dealing with the major challenges this country faces. We welcome all South Africans to follow us on this bold journey to rebuild, reform and restore SA.

• Masuku is leader of the Young Builders Movement.