South African Herman Mashaba, 62, defines himself as a “capitalist crusader”, someone who has no problem professing his passion for this economic model. “I love capitalism, I am an avowed and unrestricted capitalist. It is what will save us”, he says.
The speech sounds like a coaching course, but it’s actually a government platform. Mashaba, a businessman in the cosmetics sector, has become one of the main novelties in South Africa’s politics.
The former mayor of Johannesburg, the country’s largest city, created ActionSA in 2020, a party whose priorities speak to the growing global movement to expand the radical right, although he rejects the label.
In addition to being a ruthless defender of capitalism, the legend fights the power of unions, denounces the backwardness of socialist policies and defends the tightening of measures against crime, one of the country’s biggest problems for decades. More controversially, it calls for a hard line against immigrants who arrive illegally in South Africa from much poorer neighbors such as Mozambique, Malawi or Zimbabwe.
“The only thing that socialist policies did for Africa was plunder the continent and deceive society,” Mashaba tells leaf. In the African context, the statement is almost daring. In the formation of the countries of the continent, from the 1950s, the predominant ideology of the new groups in power was socialism. If there were differences, it was about aligning more with the defunct Soviet Union or China.
Even after the end of the Cold War, the dominant parties continued to merge with the State and implement interventionist policies in the economy. In South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC), which has spearheaded the struggle against apartheid and has been in power since 1994, clearly has leftist inspiration. Among its supporters are the Communist Party and the largest trade union in the country.
Helping to dethrone the CNA in the election scheduled for 2024 is what moves the former mayor, who ran Johannesburg between 2016 and 2019. At the time, he was affiliated with the Democratic Alliance, a centrist party that he abandoned because he felt shy in defending capitalist reforms. “The CNA is a criminal organization, not a political party,” says Mashaba. He refers to the numerous allegations of corruption involving leaders of the acronym, such as former president Jacob Zuma (2009-18), arrested for contempt of justice.
ActionSA had its first test at the polls in the municipal elections in November last year. Strategically, it decided to focus its efforts on only a handful of large cities and elected 90 councilors. The result was considered surprising for a rookie legend.
More importantly, the acronym joined other opposition parties in preventing the ANC from forming a government in Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria. The idea is to repeat the strategy at the national level. “The CNA will not be a government after 2024. If we don’t win alone, we will be happy to form coalitions”, he says.
Mashaba defines himself as an “accidental politician”, who entered this arena because he had grown tired of being an “armchair critic”. He began his career as a businessman in the 1980s and says he suffered the effects of apartheid like any black citizen. Even so, he says, he prospered on the basis of personal effort.
In 1994, he voted for CNA icon Nelson Mandela for president, an election that marked the end of the country’s white segregationist regime. But he was later disappointed with corruption and policies that, according to him, only serve to favor party cadres.
One of them is one of the pillars of post-apartheid South Africa, the BEE, an acronym for Black Economic Empowerment. It is an ambitious program to distribute wealth to historically disadvantaged sections of the country. Through the initiative, management positions in companies, bids, public contracts and positions in the state machine are primarily intended for black citizens.
Although it contributed to creating a black middle class, the BEE also generated accusations of favoring political cadres and patronage. If one day he comes to power, the former mayor promises, as one of his first measures, to end the program. “When the program was created, we believed it was necessary, because people had been prevented from having opportunities. Unfortunately, the actions proved that they were based on corruption, they had nothing to do with empowering South Africans,” he says.
The way to correct past injustices, he says, is investment in education and infrastructure to generate jobs. “We need to stimulate the private sector, which will lead people to find work.”
Unemployment in South Africa is a chronic problem, hitting 33% of the workforce last year, according to the IMF. For that number to fall, says Mashaba, it is necessary to drastically reduce the power of unions in the country, whose militancy would discourage investment.
But it is in the chapter on law and order that ActionSA attracts the most criticism. The acronym’s manifesto, while not offering details, promises measures to be “criminals, not law-abiding citizens, who live in fear.” Keeping order, says the former mayor, includes dealing with immigration.
South Africa suffers from periodic waves of xenophobia in large cities, in which workers from neighboring countries end up being targets of attacks, and the legend’s speech adds more fuel to this scenario. “South Africa cannot afford to bring more burdens here,” he says, refusing to be accused of xenophobia. Foreigners who come to the country for tourism or investment are welcome, he says.
“South Africa was built by migrants, and we have to continue to accept that they come, as long as we respect our laws. We cannot be a country of anarchy, or let failed states outsource their problems to us. We already have enough problems”, he says. .
An admirer of former US President Donald Trump, he rejects, however, the construction of walls on the borders. “A wall is not going to solve our problems. We need to enforce the law.”
Although he has come to Brazil several times, including parading in Carnival at Marquês de SapucaÃ, Mashaba says he is not very familiar with the country’s politics and avoids making comments about President Jair Bolsonaro (PL). He claims that his international development models are Rwanda and Singapore, two countries known for applying an authoritarian form of capitalist development. “Paul Kagame [presidente de Ruanda] is my hero,” he says.
The next few years, he says, will be one of intense mobilization and organization of the party throughout the country. And without the intention of moderating the speech. “Before, everyone was too afraid to talk about some issues.”
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