This is an edited extract of Mr Songezo Zibi's speech at the Cape Town Press Club on Wednesday 10 April 2024.
At a recent rally organized by Rise Mzansi in Alexandra, Johannesburg, a young man spoke about the fear he feels every morning. No work, no entertainment, no options, no hope.
Just a day full of emptiness.
He said he stayed in bed as long as possible to avoid having to go out into the streets where there was no hope.
“Life becomes meaningless,” he said.
“No one cares. No one sees us.”
He was talking about the government, about the authorities, about politicians.
A mother previously shared her frustrations with her son's drug addiction. She feels that her children have failed her. And her children also feel betrayed by their parents.
Everyone feels helpless.
You hear versions like this every time you visit a community in any of the nine states. I always ask my hosts when was the last time they had dinner. It is often said that we should eat one meal a day. I say this not out of frustration, but out of resignation.
Hunger is a reality of life in South Africa. This is similar to the increasing number of electricity outages and water outages during power outages.
These are the stories of people who cannot and should no longer wait for the dignified lives promised by our Constitution.
This is not only an ethical and considerate obligation, but also a practical one.
South Africa is the most unequal country on earth.
As Rise Mzansi says, none of our children will grow, prosper or be safe unless we build a “secure, prosperous, equal and united South Africa for the next generation”.
This requires wise policy choices. It requires effective and clean government.
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But most of all, we need new leaders with the will, vision and talent to make it happen.
They have the grit, empathy, and ability to give people hope again, to rejoin democracy, and to work with state support to improve their lives and communities. These are leaders with a commitment.
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I have thought a lot about why the old parties remain in power despite the devastation described above.
The first reason is that politics is broken. It's now transactional. People think it benefits politicians, not themselves. So they often refuse to vote unless they get something in return.
Or, more people are simply opting out.
Second, there were no viable alternatives.
People want their leaders to know and understand their experiences and provide solutions that are informed by empathy, compassion, and a willingness to listen with integrity. Solutions that unite people across race and class rather than tearing them apart.
The parties to the multiparty charter claim they intend to “solve” South Africa. They intend to “rescue” it.
We were struck by the messianic tone. “We'll rush in and fix things.” Gone are the days of such paternalistic politics in South Africa. They will never curry favor with voters, and they will never work.
We need new leaders who are from the community themselves and who have legitimacy within the community. A person who, if elected, will represent his or her interests in parliament and report to the parliament diligently.
We need new leaders who will ask the people what they need instead of telling them what's good and who will rally their supporters through means other than racist shock tactics. Just like the DA recently did to Rise Mzansi by labeling us “mercenaries”. And committed bank robbery just because he had the audacity to compete in the Western Cape.
To find these new leaders, I quit corporate life two years ago and co-founded Livonia Circle.
We have held workshops all over the country.we heard [and] Rise Mzansi developed organically from this and many of the people we met are now our candidates.
These are people who don't find a home in the old political parties. They are determined to make their own home. They are passionate, dedicated, reliable and wise.
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Collectively, we will bring a new generation of leadership to South Africans. We are committed to lobbying Congress and state legislatures to restore what has been broken: trust between elected officials and their districts.
Our new leadership is steering our course between the rocky and hard places of South African politics. On the one hand, there is a ruling party called the ANC, which actually has its roots among the people, but is so selfish and corrupt that it becomes completely disconnected from the needs of these people.
And on the other side we have the DA, a party that has alienated a large swath of the electorate and will never be able to win the votes of those currently disaffected by the ANC.
Through our work in the field, we are acutely aware that there is a hunger to collaborate, contribute, build and grow.
However, feelings of hopelessness can destroy motivation. Above all, we must fight against this despair now.
You can watch it even if you missed it… pic.twitter.com/kcW9IU7roc
— Songezo Zibi (@SongezoZibi) April 10, 2024
No wonder so many voters want a “third way.”
A small but significant number will be seduced by the inflammatory populism of the EFF and MK parties – the latter also driven by ethnic chauvinism. We must provide voters with constructive alternatives to this type of protest voting.
This means that you need to deal with the land.
For Black people, land is spiritual. We bury our dead on family land and perform rituals to tell our ancestors where we live.
When black people say we want justice for the land, it's not because we hate white people or want to take everything away.
Rather, we are asking you to look at our entire being. And if no one listens and finds a way to introduce workable land reform, people will become despairing, angry, and susceptible to corrupt populists who only want power.
Instead, Rise Mzansi's approach is strong and principled.
We will not allow ourselves to be gassed by political opponents who imply that we are populist radicals simply because we support a constitution that already allows expropriation without compensation in some cases.
But we are not going to press on about land restitution without careful planning on how to benefit us all. Land reform and land justice must be coupled with informed and intelligent spatial planning and service delivery.
Our land policy, like all the policies we develop, is embedded in a sound social democratic policy.
And, of course, we are driven by our top priority of providing the people of South Africa with the clean and effective government they deserve.
But we are also driven by ethical leadership and through this our mission to inspire people to re-engage constructively in political life.
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Our third approach envisions a future for all South Africans across the inequality gap, as despair is seen on all sides.
This feeling of hopelessness eats away at your heart even when your stomach is full.
Indeed, those of us who are privileged can live better off by privatizing education, health care, energy, and security. However, we know that this is not the answer for our children's future, as it will create further inequality in our society and, in turn, more insecurity.
Whether we are part of the new government or the opposition, we are committed to supporting this new movement, a truly non-racial and multi-national organization committed to the social democratic values enshrined in the Constitution. Continue to build a coalition of generations of South Africans.
