Mkhuseli Jack: Jordan provokes thought
PALLO Jordan spoke in Nelson Mandela Bay, receiving a euphoric welcome from ordinary people, intellectuals, business people and activists, from both the left and right of the political spectrum. He came to deliver a lecture on Chris Hani, a man that Nelson Mandela once described as “one of the valuable jewels the ANC had in its fold”.
The event was organised by the regional SACP, Mbuyiselo Ngwende region. It is believed it was the first time that Jordan had accepted a public speaking engagement since his apology about not having a doctoral degree as had been believed.
A lot of people who have always admired his guts were very eager to hear him.
The City Hall was packed with people who wanted to listen to real, rather than propaganda, politics. The expectation was that Jordan would turn this boring state of affairs upside down with his blend of political forthrightness.
Jordan walked in, looking to his right, and straight to the roof and walls of the City Hall as if there were no people there. He took a long time to take his seat and faced the crowd without acknowledging it.
He was as eccentric as ever, sweating under a heavy, old-fashioned jacket. As he took his seat, master of ceremonies Msingathi Siphuka told the audience that the purpose of the lecture was to build a new brand of “independent thinkers”.
He said he hoped the input by Jordan would “provide a theoretical understanding of the NDR (national democratic revolution)”.
Jordan painted a clear picture of Hani’s background, acquaintance and character, describing him as “a dear friend of mine”. Jordan told the audience “Chris embodied the best and the finest traditions of the ANC”, his warmth to humanity earning him love and respect from both friend and foe.
Hani had used his magnetic charisma to make all those around him feel great and was always accessible to the rank and file. He had made sure that he never lost touch with his origins, Jordan said.
He had met Hani in the protest and struggle marches of the early 1960s. Hani had arrived in Cape Town after completing his legal studies at the University of Fort Hare.
His father, Gilbert, was pleased Hani was to start articles in a legal firm in Cape Town, he said.
Jordan, though the expected topic of the day was Hani, decided to dwell at length on a subject he styled the “Dialectic of Class and Race”. To the surprise of many, he used 90% of his nearly three-hour-long speech to deal with the evolution of nations, capitalism, imperialism, social revolutions, religion, cultures, languages and slavery.
He particularly delved into the history of Europe, with a great emphasis on the French, Italian and German states. Those hoping that Jordan would zoom into current political tensions were disappointed – he stuck to his script with precision, although, on occasions, he slipped unintentionally into controversial issues such as the constitution, rule of law and leadership.
He became very emphatic when he said, “The constitution is not a small thing, that we can sneeze at”. The house came to life when he said, “The constitution was bought with blood”.
He emphasised his point in Xhosa by saying “ayizanga lula (it did not come cheap)”. He concluded, to the delight of the audience and long applause, when he cried that “this constitution was consecrated in the blood of our people”. Jordan refused to play to the gallery throughout his speech. He said the main objective of the people who killed Hani was to “detonate mass violence” in our country, a desperate attempt to derail our dawn of freedom.
The solid leadership of our people at the time denied them that. He did not want to align himself with the conspiracy theorists who are still looking for imaginary killers of Hani, when, in fact, the killers have been apprehended, tried, convicted and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.
Answering a barrage of questions from the floor, he refused to be populist. Answering a question on the ANC and Marxism, he said the “ANC does not subscribe to Marxism and socialism”, pointing out that the SACP was founded on “those principles”.
However, he said, the “class and national struggles are not contradictory, they must work in tandem”.
On the issue of leadership, he said, “The intimate shield of a leader is the confidence of his people”. A leader had to fight constantly to keep the confidence of the people.
He gave the example of the Cubans, who had faced all manner of aggression from the US, but repelled all those hostile adventures. The secret of that success was that the leaders never took their people for granted, hence with the confidence of their people, they could not be defeated.
What was clear from Jordan’s lecture is the fact that we have veered away from our founding principles as both the ANC and the nation. Hani would certainly be disappointed to see that we are still grappling with the issues that disturbed him in the early 1960s, before he embarked on his long, arduous and dangerous journey to change it.
He hoped the poor people’s dignity would be restored in the new order, and that they will be honoured with being free and enjoying all that was good for them in the land of their birth. Jordan left us to conclude ourselves where we stood on these issues.
Dr Mcebisi Ndletyana told me afterwards that the presence of MDM leaders of the 1980s in the local party structure might just have turned the tide in the politics of the metro. He was observing the presence of such political stalwarts as Mthwabo Ndube, Africa Maqolo, and Vuyani Limba, among others.
