Opinion / Columnist

ANTHONY BUTLER: Recognition at last for Peter de Villiers

Former Bok coach appears to be in good company at MK party

 First published in BusinessLive

17 January 2025

There are some weeks when it is difficult to know which is more exciting: the fact that people are joining Jacob Zuma’s MK party or the fact that other people aren’t.

This week’s notable MK joiner is former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers, a rugby man turned GOOD Party politician who was elected to the Western Cape provincial legislature in May 2023. He didn’t survive long, being expelled from GOOD in March 2024 after disciplinary proceedings related to a sexual misconduct complaint.

Given the seriousness of the matter — it stood in stark contrast to GOOD’s previous expulsion of senior members for quite understandably hosting alcohol-fuelled sex parties when they were meant to be campaigning — it was little surprise to find De Villiers knocking on the door of Zuma’s “allegations of misconduct” party. 

Allegations levelled at MK defectors have included “improper interference” in the judiciary (party deputy president John Hlophe); embroilment in “the grand heist of savings of vulnerable depositors” at VBS Mutual Bank (the Siviwe Gwarube of the DA’s reference to Floyd Shivambu); “incompetence and misconduct” (parliament on former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane); and being an appalling lawyer (pretty much everyone on advocate Dali Mpofu). 

When asked what capabilities he would bring to the party, De Villiers said he would use his “coaching skills” to the benefit of MK, a prospect that may or may not excite campaign managers. He emphasised his central mission would be to “restore dignity to the people of the Western Cape”. People don’t want money, he memorably remarked, they don’t want jobs, they want “recognition”.

The pattern of defections suggests MK intends to build a national footprint in advance of the local government elections, a Herculean task given the distribution of party support in last year’s elections.

‘Tribalism’

Social scientists and other experts confirm that “tribalism” is a major problem in SA society. There is a certain group known for its primitive cultural practices, such as dancing in a strange way. These “unthinking masses” always vote as a collective for the same political party, the DA. But the curse of tribalism isn’t limited to whites.

While the good people of KwaZulu-Natal at least allocated their votes to a range of parties in 2024 — the ANC and IFP secured 17% and 18% respectively and MK 45% — few non-Zulu speakers anywhere in the country voted for Zuma’s party. If MK is to survive, it needs a more diverse pool of voters. 

This brings us to the politician who has not joined MK this week, EFF ordinary member Mbuyiseni Ndlozi. When the EFF was addressing its own problems of ethnic, regional and gender imbalance in recent elections, Ndlozi was its most prominent campaigner in KwaZulu-Natal and the Cape provinces. He may well be more popular among activists than increasingly humourless and megalomaniacal party leader Julius Malema, who is surely right to see him as a “sleeper” and a potential threat. 

MK’s future is also blocked by a great leader who polarises opinion along regional and ethnic lines. The party is nonetheless reaching its tentacles into other communities and parties in anticipation of a major reconfiguration of the party system on Zuma’s departure. Its strategists evidently grasp the importance of coalition building and the unification of “progressive” political parties.

There are many tensions between the potential component parts of a post-Zuma progressive alliance, around issues such as African unity, the role of traditional leaders in society and the politics of gender and sexuality. But De Villiers somehow captured the philosophical essence of the progressive party that may rise out of Zuma’s ashes. There shall be mountains of cash for the leaders and cushy jobs for the activists. As for the ordinary people, henceforth they will be recognised. 

• Butler teaches public policy at the University of Cape Town.