Mashaba’s spoiler politics are a gift to the ANC

Undermining other opposition parties only strengthens the corrupt ruling party and slows development

Political science has produced a range of research on the phenomenon of “spoilers,” a type of political actor that often bedevils political and social progress in society. Drawn initially from the realm of conflict studies to describe how a party to a violent conflict that is too weak to win that conflict nonetheless causes enormous suffering by delaying the onset of peace to extract a better post-conflict deal for itself, the concept has proven equally useful to describe the behaviour of spoilers in the context of democratic politics.

As the dominance of the ANC has waned, our democracy has witnessed the emergence of our own radical spoilers. This is in line with recent research from the University of California at Irvine, which found that the proportional representation system used to run elections in our country “are vulnerable to spoiler problems that may cause significant political effects”. In one example, the authors cite the 1993 election in Poland, where “multiple spoilers” split and undermined the reformist vote to such an extent that they “helped the postcommunist parties return to power”.

It is within this context that one should view Herman Mashaba’s unprovoked and dishonest attack on the DA published in these pages last week.

In the article, Mashaba essentially confesses that ActionSA (ASA) is SA’s first formal spoiler party. He explicitly proclaims: “Make no mistake, I have an agenda. ActionSA has already benefited considerably from the DA’s strategic confusion, and we stand to benefit even more.”

It would be difficult to find a clearer confession that ASA’s true “agenda” is to undermine the opposition cause for its own “benefit” by sowing a false narrative designed to undermine the DA and other opposition parties that are working hard to forge the consensus needed for a post-ANC coalition government in 2024. .

It is this point that makes Mashaba’s piece truly laughable. His own “agenda” is a gift to the ANC because it creates the dangerous impression among voters that the national coalition government our country so desperately needs in 2024 may be unworkable.

On the other hand, even as Mashaba heaps praise on ANC ministers like Fikile Mbalula and Aaron Motsoaledi and manoeuvres behind the scenes to bring the EFF into government in places like Ekurhuleni, he has the audacity to level accusations of duplicity at other opposition parties. This is coming from the very same individual who has secretly done everything in his power to retain a corruption-accused and EFF-aligned city manager in Johannesburg after he personally handed the city back to the ANC on a silver platter in 2019.

Over the past two decades the DA has been accused of many outrageous things. But the idea that the very party that pioneered the “Fight Back” and “Stop Zuma” campaigns long before these ideas were popular is now somehow coddling the ANC is ridiculous.

Then there’s the simple fact that in the Gauteng metros the DA chose to form coalitions with ASA despite knowing full well that Mashaba is a megalomaniac precisely because of our commitment to weaken the ANC. That choice, as well as our absolute determination to make those coalitions work, speaks for itself.

Just two weeks ago, it was also the DA that took the unprecedented step of dragging the entire ANC to court to abolish its corrupt practice of cadre deployment. In response, ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe described the court action as “worrisome”. As well he should, because the DA intends to use this case to kneecap the ANC’s entire national democratic revolution.

Political science literature further instructs us that spoiler parties often adopt authoritarian and radical postures because it is easy to whip up emotions through populism. It is therefore telling that one of the most respected newspapers in the world, The Economist, describes ActionSA as a full-blown “rightwing populist party” in its latest issue.

This follows recent exposés from the likes of amaBhungane, which places ASA at the heart of a coordinated xenophobia campaign that could easily spill out into widespread violence similar to that witnessed during last year’s looting. Authoritarianism, too, is on naked display in this party, which has never held an internal election and instantly purges members who dare to disagree with Mashaba.

Last week’s unprovoked attack on the DA confirms that ASA is a classic spoiler party. In this sense it closely resembles the other major spoiler in South African politics: the RET faction of the ANC. Just as the RET faction cynically pretends to care about “radical economic transformation” so too does ASA pretend to oppose the ANC while actively undermining the emerging opposition front against the ANC.

DA supporters and our friends from other parties should take heed of the warning that research offers us about the danger of radical spoilers like ASA. SA in 2024 simply cannot afford to walk the same road that Poland did in 1993 by artificially prolonging ANC rule due to opposition fragmentation. But that is exactly what will happen if we allow the opposition’s very own RET faction to dishonestly undermine trust in the alternative the rest of us are busy building.

In stark contrast to ASA’s behaviour, the DA remains singularly focused on turning the ANC into a minority party in 2024. We can assure our supporters that no matter how loud the tantrums become, we will not be distracted. While ASA spends its time on personal vendettas and fighting against the opposition, the DA has its eyes firmly on the prize as we continue to fight for the people of SA.