MMUSI MAIMANE: Barack Obama’s warning about democracy falls on deaf ears
Barack Obama’s lecture on the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth contained a timely message that we ignore at our peril. Our democracy, hard won by Mandela and his ilk, will be vulnerable if we don’t deal with inequality. Democracy, the doctrine of equal political rights for all, cannot be sustained in the face of such radically unequal access to economic opportunity. It was ironic to see ANC heads nodding in agreement, even as unemployment, inequality and poverty continue to rise steadily in SA, and even as the ANC doubles down on policies that will only cause them to grow further. Its response to rank economic failure is to play the race card — exactly what Obama warned us against. Deputy Police Minister Bongani Mkongi’s response to my "send the army" petition epitomises the ANC’s approach. I delivered it to him at the Nyanga police station as a potential solution to the gang violence that is holding communities on the Cape Flats hostage. But rather than focus on solutions to a c...
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