Obama: too powerful?

President Barack Hussein Obama. The name could not be more un-American, especially that middle name with its Arabic/ Persian origin. His last name rhymes with George Bush’s number one enemy, something that Fox TV viewers will be well aware of. Oh, he’s also black.

The election of Mr Obama to the office of the most powerful human being on earth has not only given black people all over the world hope for the future, but it has quickly elevated his country’s status as the most progressive in the world. For the past few years now the US has been seen as a hi-tech cave built for only those inside, cold and unwelcoming to those seeking the mythical “American Dream”. Its standing as a respected leader had dwindled to such an extent that world powers were beginning to look at Europe and Asia for leadership. So when Mr Obama spoke of a long road to change during his victory speech, I had already seen so much change because of that win.

Last time the world stood this still, watched in awe, cried real tears, laughed and spoke one language was when Dr Nelson Mandela became Mzansi’s first president. No disrespect but the others before him were not democratically elected, and can therefore never lay claim to that title. Sorry. People in Japan were singing “Yes we can!”, monks in Tibet watched in disbelief on television, teenagers in São Paulo danced on the streets in jubilation, middle-class Mzansi held celebratory parties in Umhlanga. My mailbox got so much Obama-related mail that the system mistook it for spam and killed most of it.

Much has been said about how Mr Obama conducted his campaign of almost two years, how he started off as a no-hoper, taking on that powerful Senator Mrs Hillary Clinton (with her husband Bill), eventually winning that battle after long deep scars had been cut through their party. Few thought the Democrats would survive that fierce internal fist-fight, let alone that Mr Obama would take it. A senator from Illinois. Black even. At the time I had wondered out loud to a friend about whether America was ready to accept a woman President or a black one. Tuesday the 4th of November 2008 answered that quite clearly.

Mr Obama is set to be the most powerful US President ever elected. He will preside over a government ruled by his party and a Senate smitten with him. Moreover, he will run a world that totally adores him, has exceptionally high expectations of his Presidency. Come to think of it, this could be worrisome. A figure of this nature would be dangerous not because he would do bad things, but because he could do anything he wanted and people would back him 100% no questions asked. I worry about that aspect.

On the other hand he will need all the help he can get in order to sort out the problems his country is facing, and as a consequence, the world is facing. Issues of “terrorism”, racial tensions, global hunger, global warming, diplomatic timebombs (Iran, North Korea) and Africa. Heavy burdens for anyone, worst for someone who’s going to be judged by the colour of his skin. But this is where the real test of character comes in, where his true mettle shines through. He can’t please everyone all the time, so it will be interesting to see who he pleases first and who he pleases the most.

SHIKOTA - WHAT'S YOUR OFFER?

I’m confused. I’m really confused. This week there was a debate on 702 Talk Radio where the ANC, ID, DA, ACDP, UDM, FF-Plus and Shikota were invited. Shikota of course is the name now unofficially given by the media to the movement/ party/ understanding that Mr Patrick Lekota and Mr Mbhazima Shilowa are involved in forming.

My confusion came from the other parties which at every turn, instead of selling themselves as potential voters’ homes, lambasted the ruling party. While I fully understand the whole rival-bashing thing to score political points, these organisations left me with so many questions on their own policies and plans, that I felt they wasted an entire two hours of airtime. Aren’t elections all about what you can do for me as a party, what your policies are, how you’ll improve my life as a voter? As a small party you should be using each and every available opportunity to inform voters about how you would make their lives easier, your programmes of action and so on. I can’t (under)stand parties that constantly attack with no grounds to stand on without offering viable alternatives.

When it came to Mr Patrick Lekota my feeling was, the man still has deep-seated issues with his former party the ANC. Throughout the discussion he kept referring to ANC history and anecdotes as if he was campaigning for the party. But what really got my ears in a perk was when he said the ANC had been led by educated intellectuals throughout its history and promptly went on to name a few. The killer shot though was when he said the ANC had been led by intellectuals, people with [education] degrees, all the way up until Mr Thabo Mbeki. You see where this is going right? Was that reason enough to leave the ANC?

Now, by extension, would Mr Lekota object if he himself was not elected as leader of this new movement, and instead Mr Shilowa, with only his Matric certificate in the cupboard, got the nod? The National Convention as it has been dubbed, is going on today. When Mr Lekota first touted the idea of a convention in public, he mentioned that a possible political party could be formed, that it obviously had no name, but the delegates at the convention would give it a name. So it appears the movement will be a highly democratic one where the people make the rules, and the people make decisions, instead of one committee or “cabal”.

Speaking of cabal, Mr Lekota and Mrs Jesse Duarte who was representing the ANC, had a heated exchange where Mr Lekota accused the ANC of pandering to what COSATU and the SACP’s demands.

“You’re [Mr Lekota] not there, you can’t be making decisions for us…you were the cabal before, Terror. You were telling us what to do. And we all had to jump up when you and the cabal told us what to do, and silence ourselves. That’s over now…” - Duarte

Mr Lekota had made the example that he and other bourgeois who own capital had been flooded out of the ANC leadership structures by the alliance members at Polokwane 2007 because the new ANC leadership does not want intellectuals and businesspeople in its ranks anymore. Confusing to me is that a number of prominent, millionaire businesspeople lead the ANC, including Mathew Phosa, Tokyo Sexwale, Max Sisulu and Cyril Ramaphosa. We know the third richest Mzansizen Mr Patrice Motsepe is a big supporter of the ANC, whether he is a member of the party or not I’m not sure. Intellectuals? Broad definition, but a few spring to mind; Pallo Jordan, Joel Netshitenzhe, Naledi Pandor, Valli Moosa… Was that reason enough to leave the ANC?

Anyway, the point of this letter is that it seems to me Mr Lekota has left out a few gaping holes in his strategy going forward, and for that one reason a good showing at the Polls 2009 cannot be guaranteed. Unless. Unless? Yes, unless he gets Mr Thabo Mbeki to join him…