tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/traditionalist-25209/articlesTraditionalist – The Conversation2016-05-30T10:44:15Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/598472016-05-30T10:44:15Z2016-05-30T10:44:15ZAtheist group in Kenya tests boundaries of religious tolerance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/123816/original/image-20160524-25247-1lp0mjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some, but not all, of Kenya's churches are opposed to the formal recognition of atheists.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Noor Khamis</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The disquiet among some in Kenya over the registration and formal recognition of an atheist organisation, <a href="https://atheistsinkenya.com/">Atheists in Kenya</a>, raises a number issues. </p>
<p>The first one is about the constitution of Kenya, the second about religious tolerance and the third is about secularism.</p>
<p>According to the country’s 2014 demographic profile, the dominant religion is clearly <a href="http://www.indexmundi.com/kenya/demographics_profile.html">Christianity (82.5%)</a>. There are eight religions listed as major religious groups: Protestant, Catholic, Hindu, Muslim, Other Christian, Other Religion, Traditionalists and No Religion. The roughly 80% of Christians include Protestants, Catholics and Other Christians. </p>
<p>Protestants number more than 18 million and Catholics are in excess of nine million. Other Christians number 4.5 million. It is the latter group to which the Pentecostal groups belong.</p>
<p>There are close to a million people registered as having “no religion”. The <a href="http://www.indexmundi.com/kenya/demographics_profile.html">2014 demographic profile</a> placed those who have no religion at 2.4% of the population, and those with unspecified religion at 0.7%. If one adds the two together it takes the figure of those who are unaffiliated higher than the <a href="http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/DN2/The-rise-and-rise-of-nons/-/957860/1901662/-/cvmtnx/-/index.html">2009 figure</a>. It seems that the number of people who are either atheists, or agnostics or just simply not affiliated is growing. Taken together, the million who claim to have no religion in a population of <a href="http://www.indexmundi.com/kenya/demographics_profile.html">45 million</a> can be a significant number.</p>
<p>Whether or not this segment of the population is atheist or antitheist, it certainly would include those who Atheists in Kenya could easily attract to its membership.</p>
<p>The growth of religiously unaffiliated people in Kenya is slow but steady, and could be attributed to religious discontent and access to <a href="https://atheismafrica.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/the-rise-of-atheism-in-modern-kenya/">scientific knowledge</a>. What is significant is that the median age of those who are turning to atheism or simply non-affiliation is set at <a href="http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/DN2/The-rise-and-rise-of-nons/-/957860/1901662/-/cvmtnx/-/index.html">20 years</a>. In developed countries such as Japan and European nations it is 34. Even pastors seem to admit that atheism in Kenya is <a href="http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/DN2/The-rise-and-rise-of-nons/-/957860/1901662/-/cvmtnx/-/index.html">on the rise</a>. It may be of interest that <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/richard-dawkins-atheist-acaded%20ic-calls-for-religion-to-be-offended-at-every-opportunity-a7043226.html">Richard Dawkins</a>, one of the most outspoken atheists, was born in Kenya. </p>
<h2>The background</h2>
<p>At the beginning of the year Atheists in Kenya applied for registration with the registrar of societies. But after protestations from a section of the Christian community, specifically the Kenya National Congress of Pentecostal Churches, the attorney general directed the registrar to <a href="http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000200192/attorney-general-githu-muigai-suspends-registration-of-atheists-society">suspend the registration</a> on the grounds that peace and order in Kenya would suffer. </p>
<p>The founder of the atheist organisation denied that it constituted a <a href="http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000200192/attorney-general-githu-muigai-suspends-registration-of-atheists-society">threat to society</a>, saying it was a peaceful group wishing to have formal recognition and space to interact with the rest of society. This makes it unlike those suspected of criminal activities, such as the quasi-religious <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6685393.stm">Mungiki sect</a>. </p>
<p>In a democratic society it is fundamental that all people have equal opportunities to express themselves through any formal organisational networks, as long as such associations are not a threat to society. But the atheists, in so far as they have demonstrated publicly, seem to be interested in promoting their worldview among like-minded people. There is, therefore, no reason for anyone to be agitated about it.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the resistance from a certain section of the Christian community to the group’s establishment and registration can only lead to unnecessary friction based on unfounded fear. It is not as if the organisation is on a massive conversion programme so as to pose a challenge to Christianity. </p>
<h2>What the law says</h2>
<p>First let’s establish if Atheists in Kenya qualifies to be registered in accordance with the laws of the country. According to the <a href="https://www.imolin.org/doc/amlid/Kenya_Societies_Act.pdf">Societies Act</a> the term “society” refers to any “club, company, partnership, or other association of ten or more persons”. </p>
<p>Atheists in Kenya does have more than ten members, according to its claim. Is it an unlawful society as it stands? Not if it has applied for registration within 28 days of its formation and “if it has not been notified of the determination of its application”. As it stands the organisation has applied for its registration and has not been formally informed of the decision from the registrar of societies.</p>
<p>The law provides guidelines for the rejection of an application by a society. The grounds on which it can do this is if the registrar</p>
<blockquote>
<p>has reasonable cause to believe that the society has among its objects, or is likely to pursue or to be used for, any unlawful purpose or any purpose prejudicial to or incompatible with peace, welfare or good order in Kenya, or that the interests of peace, welfare of good order in Kenya would otherwise be likely to suffer prejudice by reason of the registration of the society. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is no evidence thus far that Atheists in Kenya poses a threat to the nation of Kenya. The law provides for appeal to the minister against the decision and provides for appeal to the High Court. It would be interesting to see how far this matter goes. </p>
<h2>What the constitution says</h2>
<p>Notwithstanding the fact that the constitution does make explicit reference to belief in God, chapter two of the <a href="https://www.kenyaembassy.com/pdfs/the%20constitution%20of%20kenya.pdf">Kenyan constitution</a> makes it explicitly clear that “there shall be no state religion”. Furthermore, chapter 2.10 and the Bill of Rights clearly provide an insight into the values that govern the constitution of Kenya. Taken together there is nothing in them to suggest any discrimination against minority groups. </p>
<p>When it comes to religious tolerance, the constitution clearly provides for the protection of one’s belief and opinion. Whether or not Kenya is a secular state can be debated, but the values enshrined in the constitution are clearly as secular as can be, and these provide protection to all citizens regardless of their worldviews. </p>
<p>Expression of belief in God in the constitution does not automatically make the country a religious one, but is rather an expression of the broader worldview of the nation. Notwithstanding the dominant worldview of any nation, democracies have clear statements in their “bill of rights” sections providing for the essential freedoms that underpin the expression of human conscience. </p>
<p>The constitutions of <a href="http://www.constitution.org/cons/india/const.html">India</a> and <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/SAConstitution-web-eng.pdf">South Africa</a>, and the First Amendment to the <a href="http://constitutioncenter.org/media/files/constitution.pdf">US constitution</a>, are clear examples of such statements of tolerance in society. </p>
<p>In my view, the most fundamental ethical responsibility of any nation or society is to offer protection to its minority communities against the dominance of majority worldviews.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59847/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>P. Pratap Kumar receives funding from National Research Foundation of SA</span></em></p>The furore over atheism in Kenya comes at a time of slow but steady growth in the number of people unaffiliated to any religion, thanks to religious discontent and access to scientific knowledge.P. Pratap Kumar, Emeritus Professor, School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics, University of KwaZulu-NatalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/583512016-05-10T14:27:47Z2016-05-10T14:27:47ZTrump and Zuma: worlds apart but bound by patriarchy and sexism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121891/original/image-20160510-20698-1sslojd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women support Jacob Zuma outside court during his 2006 rape trial. Women are often complicit in sustaining patriarchy.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent months two highly controversial political leaders, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-inoculate-people-against-donald-trumps-fact-bending-claims-56489">Donald Trump</a> and <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/list_by.php?by=Jacob%20Zuma">Jacob Zuma</a>, have received harsh, intense global media coverage. </p>
<p>Trump, a white man, is the Republican presumptive nominee in the US presidential race as “leader of the free world”. Zuma, a black man, is the embattled President of the <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/">African National Congress-led</a> government in South Africa, clinging to power in an emerging, developing democracy.</p>
<p>The trajectory of the two men through political power structures in their respective countries cannot be more dissimilar. Trump is the privileged, university-educated billionaire entrepreneur. Zuma is the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/jacob-zuma-likes-to-be-cast-as-a-man-of-the-people-but-is-he-50665">man of the people</a>”, rising from poverty and struggle politics through the ranks of the ANC with little formal education. </p>
<p>These men, seemingly poles apart, have something distinct in common. They are both prominent patriarchs with populist support. </p>
<p>They share a value system based on male supremacy, power and entitlement that has historically, and still continues, to subjugate, oppress, violate and exploit women globally. These men demonstrate that patriarchy transcends race, ethnicity, class, culture and geopolitics.</p>
<p>Its persistence in the US, one of the most advanced, democratised nations in the world, may appear paradoxical. But patriarchy, like all forms of structural violence, is insidious and invisible. It is historic, deeply entrenched and institutionalised in social, cultural and religious mores and practices. Patriarchy succinctly <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/22/986641/-Defining-Perpetuating-Challenging-Patriarchy">summarised</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>… is generally not an explicit ongoing effort by men to dominate women. It is a longstanding system that we are born into and participate in, mostly unconsciously. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This means that both men and women perpetuate patriarchal power structures, but men are obviously the main beneficiaries of this system. </p>
<h2>The sexist backlash</h2>
<p>The global backlash against women when they are perceived to be gaining ground, asserting themselves or “cracking the glass ceiling” is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/31/backlash-against-feminism-manosphere-women">well documented</a>.</p>
<p>Trump, the modern, elitist patriarch, has a history of heaping vicious sexist scorn and humiliation on women. He <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-ted-cruz-donald-trump-wives-20160325-story.html">insulted</a> his Republican rivals, including Carly Fiorina’s looks, and humiliated presidential rival Ted Cruz’s wife.</p>
<p>After his recent campaign wins he used the classic, sexist “divide and rule” strategy. He said Hillary Clinton, his rival Democrat front-runner, was playing the “<a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/26/donald-trump-if-hillary-clinton-were-man-shed-get-/">woman card</a>” and has nothing else going for her. There has also been a huge outcry at his gaffe against women who have <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/trump-ban-abortion-punish-women-who-get-one.html">abortions</a>.</p>
<p>Zuma, the tribalist, <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-traditionalist-president-versus-modernist-finance-minister-55391">traditionalist</a> patriarch, has a similar history of misogyny. At his 2006 rape trial, which ended with an <a href="http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1893561,00.html">acquittal</a>, his sexist defence was that, as a Zulu male, he was obliged to <a href="https://lapa.princeton.edu/hosteddocs/skeen_2007_thesis.pdf">satisfy a woman</a>. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121889/original/image-20160510-20727-18pc3j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121889/original/image-20160510-20727-18pc3j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121889/original/image-20160510-20727-18pc3j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121889/original/image-20160510-20727-18pc3j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121889/original/image-20160510-20727-18pc3j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121889/original/image-20160510-20727-18pc3j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121889/original/image-20160510-20727-18pc3j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women supporters cheer Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Lynden, Washington.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Jim Urquhart</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The South African Commission for <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2015-01-17-zuma-reprimanded-for-comments-about-women">Gender Equality</a> has censored Zuma for saying the nation’s “daughters” become a societal problem when they do not marry. He was recently accused by the opposition Democratic Alliance of “<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/12186363/South-Africas-Jacob-Zuma-accused-of-outrageously-sexist-comments.html">outrageously sexist</a>” and offensive remarks. This, after he said he would like to compliment women more but can’t as it is perceived as harassment in modern times. He added that women were missing out on “<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/12186363/South-Africas-Jacob-Zuma-accused-of-outrageously-sexist-comments.html">good men and marriage</a>”.</p>
<h2>Complicity of women</h2>
<p>The endurance and resilience of patriarchy in modern societies is not determined or sustained solely by men’s actions, but by <a href="http://sdi.sagepub.com/content/35/4/429.short">women’s actions</a> too.</p>
<p>Trump’s campaign success, although decidedly skewed towards the Republican men’s vote, clearly indicates that he has also won the <a href="http://www.salon.com/2016/04/08/the_mystery_of_republican_women_backing_sexist_trump_theyre_female_misogynists_whove_grown_to_accept_oppression/">women’s vote</a>. Republican women voters downplay his misogyny, seemingly more concerned with endorsing his xenophobic, racist and anti-immigration policies.</p>
<p>Like Trump, polygamist Zuma has the support of the <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2016-04-13-ancwl-reiterates-support-for-president-zuma">ANC Women’s League</a>, historically the most powerful women’s lobby in South Africa. This group, which earned sterling credentials in the fight against apartheid, has remained largely silent on the sexist controversies surrounding Zuma. Until just <a href="http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/politics/2015/08/06/female-president-on-anc-womens-league-agenda">recently</a> it had not even countenanced having a woman president. </p>
<p>Waiting in the wings in both the US and South Africa are two women touted to be the next presidents of their respective countries. <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-hillary-clinton-is-struggling-to-win-over-americas-young-women-54365">Clinton</a>, running against Trump, is strongly tipped to win the Democratic nomination for the presidential race. If successful she could be the first US woman president, ending a 227-year male legacy.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2016/04/07/Nkosazana-Dlamini-Zuma-touted-as-possible-president">Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma</a>, who will be finishing her term as Chairperson of the African Union Commission in July, is tipped to succeed Jacob Zuma, her former husband. She could be the first woman to lead the governing African National Congress in its 104-year history. Ironically, Clinton and Dlamini-Zuma, respectively, will be the wife and ex-wife of former presidents in their respective countries.</p>
<h2>Will women presidents make a difference?</h2>
<p>Women presidents are perceived as crucial for pushing an agenda of women’s rights and freedoms. But the pressures and constraints of the presidential office mean that the heightened expectations for them overcoming patriarchal dominance may not be realised.</p>
<p>It remains to be seen, therefore, whether both Clinton and Dlamini-Zuma, if they do become presidents, will buck the trend and leave a feminist mark in their legacies.</p>
<p>A global groundswell by women, and especially students, may be the impetus needed for society to finally engage with the global scourge of patriarchal dominance and violence.</p>
<p>If elected, Clinton would have to contend with increasing feminist militancy among women at US Ivy League universities and colleges <a href="http://urbanette.com/campus-rape-epidemic/">against</a> against a culture of rape, sexual violence and sexism.</p>
<p>In South Africa, a similar fight against patriarchal dominance and violence appears to be emerging from women students in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-student-movement-splinters-as-patriarchy-muscles-out-diversity-57855">#FeesMustFall</a> movement. They too are calling out men on sexual assault, a culture of rape and what they perceive as increasingly exclusionary, dominant male discourses in the mass social movement for deep transformation.</p>
<p>These movements echo the militant suffragette movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Violent, militant pressure from women in the United Kingdom signalled a profound change in patriarchal power dynamics – and got women the vote.</p>
<p>The overwhelming scrutiny and attention Trump and Zuma receive in their respective countries relates more to their political rhetoric on issues of national and economic security. It is the yardstick they are measured by, rather than their misogyny.</p>
<p>The scathing condemnation against them has little to do with their stance on women’s issues, and their blatant sexism. This illustrates the insidious persistence of patriarchal power structures in the developed and developing world. And both men and women globally perpetuate male dominance by endorsing populist patriarchs and by not holding them to account on women’s issues.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58351/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lyn Snodgrass does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Seemingly poles apart, Donald Trump and Jacob Zuma have something in common: they are both prominent patriarchs with populist support. And they both count women among their staunch supporters.Lyn Snodgrass, Associate Professor and Head of Department of Political and Conflict Studies, Nelson Mandela UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/553912016-02-25T09:46:02Z2016-02-25T09:46:02ZSouth Africa’s traditionalist president versus modernist finance minister<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112857/original/image-20160225-15141-qeulu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South Africa's Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan speaks to President Jacob Zuma </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">REUTERS/Rogan Ward</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It was the battle between South Africa’s <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/12/10/south-africa-jacob-zuma-investors/">traditionalist</a> president and its modernist finance minister that arguably led to the latter’s sacking late last year. </p>
<p>Former Minister of Finance <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-removal-of-south-africas-finance-minister-is-bad-news-for-the-country-52170">Nhlanhla Nene</a> had focussed on governance in State Owned Enterprises and capital projects that were unaffordable for the country’s economy. That was in the midst of declining mining and manufacturing sectors and a drought stricken agricultural sector.</p>
<p>It has been argued that these actions could have irked President Jacob Zuma, leading to <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35059563">Nene’s ousting</a> on 9 December 2015. A younger “clever” and modern young black man had challenged an “elder” in the form of Zuma, which is traditionally unacceptable in the Zulu culture. The events following that evening have been well documented.</p>
<p>Nene understood that the increases in revenue collection were not sustainable. It is therefore not surprising that his equally modernist successor Pravin Gordhan indicated in his <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-2016-budget-long-on-promise-but-short-on-detail-55359">2016 budget speech</a> that revenue collection of 30.2% of GDP would be less than expenditure resulting in a deficit of 3.2% in 2016/17.</p>
<h2>Fiscal consolidation</h2>
<p>In last year’s Medium Term Budget Policy <a href="http://www.treasury.gov.za/documents/mtbps/2015/mtbps/speech.pdf">Statement</a> released in October, Nene hinted at fiscal consolidation by having a debt to GDP ratio ceiling of 46.2% and a deficit of less than 3% as a percentage of GDP in the third year (2018/19) of the medium term budget. Gordhan has decreased that more aggressively to 2.8 by 2018/19 budget by reprioritising expenditure and cutting costs.</p>
<p>When Gordhan was reappointed into the finance portfolio, he reportedly presented a list of demands. It included autonomy in decision-making in pursuit of financial and fiscal discipline to restore South Africa’s credibility as an investment destination. However the President’s utterances in recent days indicate simmering tensions in the relationship. Zuma was quoted as saying:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2016-02-22-van-rooyen-was-most-qualified-for-finance-minister-job-zuma">Van Rooyen</a> is my comrade, MK (Umkhonto Wesizwe) for that matter – where I come from. He is a trained finance and economic comrade, more qualified than any minister I have ever appointed there, in the finance issue.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Zuma, “the traditionalist”, is struggling with the modernity of global capital. Its flow and velocity, the ability to discipline irrationality despite the fact that financial markets have irrational over-exuberance embedded in them, bugs him. </p>
<h2>Zuma’s stomach is turning</h2>
<p>It could be argued that Zuma’s stomach is turning at the concessions he made in appointing Gordhan in December. His utterance could be a tactic. He could be signalling to the public that he is in charge despite his recent political setbacks of backtracking on the appointment of Van Rooyen and his willingness to <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2016-02-03-jacob-zuma-agrees-to-paybackthemoney">pay back</a> part of the money spent on his Nkandla home. To support this argument Zuma announced salary increases for all public office bearers ahead of the budget.</p>
<p>Wednesday was Gordhan’s day. However, Zuma’s actions showed “who is the boss”. Thus by exercising power, the president was keeping his patrons happy. Yet he missed an opportunity to signal to the international investor community that he was in support of the consolidation efforts of his minister of finance.</p>
<p>In the past month and in the 2016 budget Gordhan has emphasised the importance of social partners such as business, labour and community. He stressed he was also encouraged by provincial efforts such as <a href="http://www.gautengonline.gov.za/Documents/WAR%20ROOM%20leaflet.pdf">Ntirhisano</a> in Gauteng.</p>
<h2>Relationship with gaping cracks</h2>
<p>Unlike in the Mandela/Liebenberg, Mbeki/Manuel, and arguably initially the Zuma/Nene <a href="http://businesstech.co.za/news/government/106725/sa-presidents-vs-finance-ministers-1994-2015/">partnerships</a>, the current Zuma/Gordhan relationship has gaping cracks. It asks more questions than it provides answers. A signal of a solid relationship was needed in the 2016 budget presentation to win over sceptical credit rating agencies that the budget consolidation of debt, financial and fiscal disciple will be sustained.</p>
<p>The modern Gordhan, understanding the mistrust particularly by the electorate and various other stakeholders, has sought to enter into a social contract with all stakeholders. Of interest is that such a social contract had defined the Mbeki leadership while being detested by a lot of the ANC allies as a neo-liberal paradigm. They saw it as one that promoted capitalist accumulation at the expense of workers and community. This was despite that fact that Mbeki’s leadership extended social security to the vulnerable people, the poor, elderly and young mothers.</p>
<p>The modern Gordhan listened to big business and sought the advice of premiers. Some of the latter highlighted the need to re-establish trust with communities, particularly in Gauteng where <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/e-tolls-overpriced-by-more-than-300-1988222">e-tolls</a> are detested. He was also warned that in certain areas the anger by the electorate could cost the governing African National Congress some metropolitan and key municipal areas in the forthcoming local government elections.</p>
<h2>Gordhan’s masterstroke</h2>
<p>In his budget Gordhan not only provided tax relief while taking away more in the form of fuel levy and sin taxes. His masterstroke was in the form of addressing higher education financing to defuse protests whilst ensuring that universities’ financial position is not burdened.</p>
<p>Since 1991 the National Student Financial Aid Scheme has assisted 1,5 million students from poor backgrounds amounting to <a href="http://www.nsfas.org.za/staticfiles/NSFAS/Internet/Sunday%20Independent%20(NSFAS%2023YRS).pdf">R50 billion</a>. For the 2016/17 to 18/19 about R32 billion is budgeted of which R8 billion will support poor students enrolled and the new cohorts in the following years.</p>
<p>This was made possible by reprioritising expenditure. All in all R93 billion is allocated to higher education. A long sustainable funding solution of tertiary education is required to strengthen skills knowledge and innovation which are critical pillars of a competitive dynamic economy.</p>
<h2>Empty voting booths</h2>
<p>Not increasing personal income tax and providing support to students indicates that government is listening and responding to the urgent needs of the day. Mass protest in the form of <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/27/africa/fees-must-fall-student-protest-south-africa-explainer/">#Feesmustfall</a>, threats of abstaining from the voting booths by the ANC <a href="http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=2051">alliance members</a> - the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the Communist Party - and mistrust of government in some provinces have all shaken the ANC government. </p>
<p>Tax relief and higher education support is welcome. But it could also reinforce the view that for delivery to take place in South Africa, mass action remains a strong weapon as it yields results. However, the response by government in the budget could also be a populist ploy to win votes in the local government elections. Populism is not sustainable in the medium to long term as experiences in Latin America have shown.</p>
<p>Importantly, the ANC government can do well by closing the cracks between the president and the finance minister. It appears though this is unlikely to happen. Therefore one of them will fall – one’s demise will lead to strengthening of the currency and the restoration of confidence. The other’s could fasten the country’s status to junk. No need to guess who that is.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55391/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lumkile Mondi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pravin Gordhan’s Budget was indicative of gaping cracks between a finance minister and a president with widely differing world views and politics.Lumkile Mondi, Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.