GARETH VAN ONSELEN: Mathews Phosa and the Save SA cowards
Saul became Paul but Phosa is still Phosa after his Damascus moment; he and countless others seem incapable of putting country before party
Mathews Phosa’s "Damascus moment" confessional is important for all the wrong reasons. It was a treatise not of what he is prepared to do, but what he is not. And that, right there, is the problem. To be clear, it was not a morally virtuous declaration of bravery. It was cowardly. For all his indignation at the ANC’s conduct, the conclusion he arrived at was, "I remain a member of the ANC". There was no conversion. In a blinding light, Saul saw Jesus on the road to Damascus. And, on reaching his destination, he had his sight restored by a Christian, one of the very people he had been persecuting. And so Saul became Paul. But Phosa remains Phosa.The brave thing to do, one might even say the right thing, given the depth and breadth of Phosa’s ostensible concern, would be to resign from the ANC. But then the post-apartheid ANC doesn’t really do bravery. It hasn’t been brave since the struggle days. Instead of action there is posturing. And it’s all been done before. Not a single elemen...
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