You have to hand it to Gwede Mantashe – he has done more to unite South Africans across the spectrum than anyone since Nelson Mandela … but in hate, not respect.
He has alienated everyone from the left to the right. Yesterday, he was unceremoniously booed off the stage at the Cosatu conference, as delegates sang the old struggle song, Asinamali (which means “we have no money” in isiZulu), which was the rallying sound of the Lamontville rent protests in the 1980s.
Mantashe’s arrogance knows no bounds and he has lectured any critics of his hydrocarbons-first policy for energy as being antidevelopment.
Yet, many are wondering what his agenda – and that of his ANC party – really is when it comes to offshore oil and gas exploration, fracking, nuclear power, power ships and many others.
ALSO READ: WATCH: ‘Hamba Gwede!’ – Mantashe booed off Cosatu congress stage
The Cosatu protesters were reflecting the reality that all of us, except the ANC leadership and their private sector enablers, are struggling to survive a surging cost of living and pathetic wage increases, not to mention battling multiple times a day with load shedding.
Mantashe is also a microcosm of the ANC itself, which is starting to unite people against it, with load shedding being the last straw for many
