POLITRICKING | Rise Mzansi national chairperson Vuyiswa Ramokgopa calls for new political era beyond ANC 'Congress' tradition

“I am very much of the view that 30 years from now, we are not going to be talking about the ANC, I think the ANC will be long behind us by then,” said Vuyiswa Ramokgopa as she imagines South Africa’s political future.

The Rise Mzansi national chairperson, who serves as MEC in the ANC-led Gauteng provincial government is certain that the country is ripe for a new way of doing politics, breaking away from the “congress” tradition set by some of the major parties in the country.

Ramokgopa’s outfit, a newcomer on the scene, was established in the lead up to the elections and will only be marking its second year anniversary and while it has minimal representation in the national assembly and in provincial legislatures, its managed to secure crucial roles, such as hers as MEC for agriculture and rural development as well as that held by party leader Songezo Zibi, who is chair of the standing committee on public finance in parliament.

The big-hair, big-personality Joburg-born Ramokgopa is new to politics herself, having established herself in business before entering into uncharted waters.

She’s also this week’s guest on Politricking with Tshidi Madia, an EWN politics podcast.

Ramokgopa, who was once mocked for her “this is what democracy looks like,” chants during the campaign season, insists the way politics is being done in the country has alienated many.

“You have politics on one side of society and everything else happening on the other side, and we think that those worlds need to come closer to each other, and it requires a rethinking of how we do politics. It requires, perhaps, electoral reform… it requires us thinking about how we organise,” she said.

The politician believes talks between smaller parties will come to a head before the end of the year, she said they have been going on for long and if they are to come together, it ought to happen sooner, rather than later.  

While still a toddler, Rise Mzansi has faced some criticism, some of which places its origins in the hands of big business and its relationship with think tank Rivonia Circle being seen as a conduit which resulted in the formation of the political party, all of which Ramokgopa puts down to the country dealing with the unknown. 

She said as far as Rivonia circle is concerned, it forms part of a political ecosystem and that the country must get to a point where it understands that in such a scenario, different vehicles will have different responsibilities, as she maintained that there’s nothing untoward in the connections between the two organisations.

When quizzed about the fragmentation of smaller parties, she acknowledges that talks have been on the go for some time, these are to see if it’s possible for the different entities seeking electoral support to come together, these aren’t just limited to parties, but even those who have fallen out of the system but have a yearning to serve in some shape or form.

“So, our sense is that it's not about folding into one party. It's about forming of some kind of a broad umbrella formation that can accommodate a lot of different parties and individuals who have a shared political perspective,” said Ramokgopa.

These she added, would all be grounded in constitutional democratic principles and armed with a specific vision of what they would like to see the country achieving.

She also had some thoughts on the government of national unity. Rise Mzansi is one of the many parties that have been in recent meetings with the ANC over resetting the coalition agreement.

“There is no party that received an absolute majority, and I believe there's a lot of work to be done on all sides and on the sides of both of those parties [ANC and DA], in recognizing where we are right now and where we find ourselves,” she notes.

Ramakgopa, who insisted there were many learnings that parties and the country could take away from the coalition, that has been in place for the past 9 months, said Rise Mzansi wants to see the coalition doing away with bilateral approach to agreements, saying as it stands all parties are in a partnership with the ANC and not each other.

She also echoed views expressed by many other GNU partners when it comes to the behaviour of the DA.

“I really want to say this quite plainly, the GNU is not the DA, and it's not just the DA and the ANC, because there's a tendency to paint the entire GNU with the whims and the feelings of the DA at any particular moment,” she said.

Ramokgopa said the road ahead requires superior levels of political maturity and a willingness on all sides to pull together.