To many South Africans, Themba Lukhele Nzimande is an audacious podcaster known for streetwise monologues, flashy dress, and a criminal past. A self-made celebrity with a solid social media presence, he is often seen rubbing shoulders with the cream of the country’s socialites, kitted out in high-end apparel. But now the man they call Skeem GP is one of a growing cohort of ex-cons and social celebrities who have developed political ambitions.
Not just as a lay-by ward councillor but as the Afrika Mayibuye Movement’s mayoral candidate for the embattled, corruption-ridden Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. His nomination has taken many by surprise, and even had an incredulous Newzroom Afrika anchor Xoli Mngambi asking him whether this was ‘for you a joke really, that you can come on a station like this and try and convince the viewer that you can run a city … Do you take this seriously, or is your party putting you forward because it simply doesn’t take the people of Ekurhuleni seriously?’ Eina!
Can one really fault the newsman’s obvious skepticism? Normally sharp-witted, Lukhele seemed like a fish out of water under Mngambi’s penetrating line of questioning. He was evasive, without his usual charisma, and failed totally to address some basic questions before quipping sheepishly that the anchor was ‘grilling’ him.
Mngambi’s questions weren’t rocket science — just about the kinds of issues one would expect any aspirant public representative to be familiar with. These are low-hanging fruit that even the more opportunistic candidates are able to address in one way or another – to create some kind of impression that they know what they are talking about.
But rather than giving their man a crash course in umrhabulo (political education) Floyd Shivambu’s new political outfit seems to be banking solely on Nzimande’s existing popularity. For an upstart party, he is a convenient asset, an easy sell whose campaign will require far less resources than that of a complete unknown. However, he is not exactly ideal if you consider that Shivambu, the former so-called brains of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has always presented himself as something of an intellectual.
To the observant citizen, Mngambi’s thorough probing seemed justified and necessary, especially given that the South African electioneering space has gradually opened up to half-wits and others who really should stick to reality shows, or remain behind bars. One could even say that Nzimande’s nomination has less to do with his purported managerial and administrative skills than to rebut ActionSA’s Ekurhuleni candidate, the drug-busting television personality Xolani Khumalo.
In places like the United States, the trend towards celebrities and convicted offenders turning to public office has been a ‘thing’ over the decades. People who have used their celebrity status to catapult themselves into pujlbic office include Ronald Reagan, Shirley Temple, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and even Donald Trump. Yet for all its sins, America – as Barack Obama remarked at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service – remains a nation of strong institutions rather than strong men.
Celebrity may draw more votes, but they have some very smart people at their disposal to plan and administer their operations behind the scenes. Anyway, as a developed first world nation, America’s problems couldn’t be further removed from those confronting South Africa.
By contrast, in South Africa, with its myriad challenges and merit-averse policies like cadre deployment, those who surround the elected individual are themselves often as unwitting as the person they are charged with assisting.
Add to this toxic brew the electorate’s obsession with populist rhetoric rather than solutions-driven ideas that are grounded in intellectual logic and you learn to understand how figures like said Nzimande, Ntsiki Mazwai or Renaldo Gouws can feel inspired to try their luck.
Gone are the days where one’s intelligence and capability determined how far one progressed. With a growing culture of anti-intellectualism, having your wits and moral compass about you can quickly provoke slurs like ‘clever black,’ making this one of very few countries where being seen as intelligent becomes a liability.
Just ask the scores of ANC stalwarts who quit the party after Thabo Mbeki’s ousting by Jacob Zuma. They clearly foresaw the shocking lowering of standards, the sloth and the patronage that would mark the looming ‘state capture’ years. By walking away, they probably wanted the party to stop and think. Instead, the ANC responded by branding them as ‘counter-revolutionaries’. The country has never been the same since.
Which begs the question: is it not high time that political parties took the nation’s problems seriously enough to place a premium on intelligence and competence?
More importantly, have voters become mature enough to realise that old loyalties no longer cut it, and a thorough political realignment is long overdue?
Instead of featherhead celebrities, why not headhunt chartered accountants, architects or engineers? They may not command a lot of street cred, but are likely to do far better in the country’s legislatures.
After his interview, and following widespread ridicule, Nzimande posted a video in which he tried to walk back his woeful showing – a desperate attempt to redeem himself.
This is a person who doesn’t shy away from reminding us that he has developed one of the country’s top podcasts. However, even he must have begun to realise that providing former prison inmates with a public platform is an entirely different ball game to running a R71 billion municipality.
Featured image: Themba Lukhele Nzimande (centre) at a Afrika Mayibuye Movement event. Source: Floyd Shivambu Facebook page.