THE ANALYSIS - MEDIA REPRESENTATION OF ELECTION LISTS AND CADRE DEPLOYMENT VERSUS INTENT OF THE PROCESS

5.1 Context

Why has the media tended to focus on personalities and not the intent of cadre deployment as a process towards transformation? News stories on election lists and cadre deployment reveal patterns of some editorial processes which include selection and content management, which according to framing theory shows intentional behaviour by media. Accordingly, the editorial practise provokes intense debates in which the rationality of liberal-objective-observer to democratic process is criticized by thinking which argues that such rationality remains trapped by a devotion to „liberalist rituals‟, rituals detached from embedded meanings specific to South Africa‟s socio-political dynamics.

As discussed in chapter 3, South Africa‟s transformation imperatives set out in the constitution, taken together with the country‟s electoral system, give rise to the context of deployment in government. This has also been a key factor within the ruling party‟s internal elections processes, as it takes precaution to ensure representation of different provinces based on branch membership, as well as representation and appointment of women to strategic positions within the party and to government. The proportional representative system has ensured that voters vote for political parties and each political party chooses members who will serve as its representatives in parliament based on the party lists.

The ANC‟s cadre policy is supposed to serve as a guide in deploying members into strategic positions in government and state owned enterprises (ANC online).

The party has re-iterated its commitment to the 1985 cadre policy when it declared 1997 “the year for re-affirming the ANC cadre” and the declaration at its 53^rd National Conference of “the decade of the Cadre”. At this conference the ruling party recommitted itself to a kind of cadre that is “ideologically rooted and schooled in ANC politics; skilled and competent to undertake assigned tasks;

37 disciplined; ethical; and conscientious” (ANC, December 2014). It is important to note the different set of skills required for a political deployee and a technical/public service deployee, the former required to be a member of the ruling party while the latter needs to be sympathetic to the party‟s ideology AND technically skilled in their field. For example Thuli Madonsela (Public Protector) would be a public service deployee in this instance.

5.2 Reports

The first issue of Mail and Guardian during period of study carried a report on postponement of the ANC national list conference (03-09/01/2014) citing Keith Khoza, ANC spokesperson and Lindiwe Zulu, head of ANC sub-committee on communications as denying internal factions as the cause of postponement.

Interestingly the same report cites an unnamed source who is “a senior member of the party in the Western Cape” as saying “a large number of ANC members stop campaigning for the party if their names did not appear high enough…”.

A ST (16/03) report on ANC party list titled “Internal power play trumps voter choice”, and reads “the recently released ANC candidate list for parliament reveals more about the party‟s future and its present status than many of us realise…”. The author explains „future‟ as the capacity to predict/read future succession battles that are likely to play out internally, based on the current candidate list. The party‟s present status speaks to a number of names included on the list who have appeared before a parliamentary ethics committee and have been found guilty of fraud but, according to the ruling party, were never convicted by a court of law. What the report is salient on is question the credibility of some ANC candidates and re-inforce the assertion that candidates are accountable to the party and not the voter.

Both newspapers report on cabinet appointments in one issue each (M&G 30/05 – 05/06/2014; ST 01/06/2014). ST headlined the report “No easy wait for their cabinet nod: phones of the chosen start ringing before dawn”. The writer tells of

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“nervous cabinet ministers party[ing] the night away at the house of their colleague…ministers and ANC NEC members who were hoping to be appointed to Zuma‟s cabinet gathered…but as the hours went by without a call from the president‟s office, the party became a sombre affair…”. M&G on the other hand reported on cabinet appointments under a feature “ministerial merry-go-round”

(30/05-05/06/2014), where they focus on David Mahlobo‟s appointment to head State Security, the re-deployment of Nathi Mthethwa to Arts and Culture portfolio, Nkosinathi Nhleko‟s appointment as Police Minister, their past performances and what they are expected to deliver.

5.3 Analysis

In all the newspapers interest in candidates and party lists has not been a strong focal point except when it relates to the ruling party and the candidates‟ credibility to hold office. Party lists and deployment discourse is once again held within libertarian frames that find fault at the first instance with proportional representation, which is a constitutional imperative towards transformation, and cadre deployment. What is lacking with both newspapers is an outline of all ministerial appointments, their skills and qualifications/experience for that particular portfolio and what their duties will involve. Instead M&G recreates the perception alluded to under 1.3.2 above that appointments made within the Security Cluster are biased towards the president. By selecting to report on Mahlobo‟s and Nhleko‟s appointments, and Mthethwa‟s re-deployment to Arts and Culture, M&G is highlighting how Zuma is appointing based on, and rewarding, his ethnic group or reward loyalists from KZN.

It is also interesting to note newspaper sources and their anonymity, while it is understandable that journalists want to protect their sources, this can be interpreted to mean any number of things. Firstly, it could mean political parties have moles who are feeding journalists with internal information which would explain the roping in of state intelligence in monitoring party members. Secondly, it could mean the journalist is making up the story and so to subvert the need to

39 test its veracity and give it credibility, a source close to internal party processes is

„quoted‟.

5.4 Conclusion

The media can be forgiven in some instances for highlighting personality/character flaws when it comes to ANC deployees, which speaks to its watchdog role, even though this is never based on the „cadre policy‟ but comes across as western inspired reporting which tends to be personality driven versus issues driven, and frames politicians as self-serving. The narrative of a corrupt ANC government goes even further to sound racial in its tone, suggesting a government led by black people will always fail. By its own admission, the ANC has conceded that some of its deployees “…forgot ANC politics and started to think only about themselves…[once placed in their new roles which gave them access to the resources of the state]…” (ANC, December 2014).

Media discourse on deployment, as mentioned in chapter 1, seems to silently contradict itself when deployment success stories are attributed solely to individuals, yet reports on poor performance malign the whole cadre deployment process. An example of a successful deployment is in the Office of the Public Protector under Thuli Madonsela which has increasingly been attributed to her as an individual. This is where mediated politics becomes a challenge for politicians and society, as those with the means to broadcast or publish information ultimately control what reality is perceived.

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CHAPTER 6

THE ANALYSIS – HOW DO MEDIA REPORTS TREAT INDIVIDUAL