So, Hlaudi Motsoeneng has been appointed permanently as chief operating officer of the SABC. No real surprise there, given the ruling ANC’s determination that he would get the job, come hell or high water.
One or two eyebrows might have been raised at the apparent role taken by new Communications Minister Faith Muthambi, who, according to the Mail & Guardian, sat literally outside Monday night’s SABC Board meeting until it gave her the right decision.
But that’s what happens in an authoritarian democracy, you see.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, this kind of democracy is what happens when crypto-fascists use democratic processes to turn a state into their own personal political kingdoms. True democratic processes are abused, subverted and by-passed, but in such a twisted way that the leadership can turn around, hand on heart, and say, “What are you complaining about? We followed the democratic process. What’s happening represents the will of the people!”
Zimbabwe is an excellent example. Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF has stolen election after election in this way, with fraudulent voters rolls, stuffed ballot boxes, abuse of state media and use of the police and the army to intimidate voters. Add in decisions like the one to shrink the number of polling booths in densely populated parts of Harare, which just happened to be MDC strongholds, or the decision to print two million more ballot papers than Zimbabwe has voters, and you get the picture.
Venezuela under Hugo Chavez, and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, is another. Protest against the Chavista regime is stifled, opposition politicians are jailed, and state assets are used shamelessly to either boost government support or block opponents. For example, Venezuela has some 500 radio stations, but if yours happens to have spoken out against the regime, you’ll find it exceedingly difficult when you try and get your licence renewed.
The French general, Napoléon Bonaparte, was probably the first exponent of authoritarian democracy. Having seized power in a military coup in November 1799, Bonaparte immediately called on legislators to ratify his move – which, with a battalion of heavily armed guards outside the chamber, they immediately did. The following day Bonaparte issued a proclamation to the people of Paris explaining that he had been brought to power by the will of the people, and through democratic means.
A couple of years later, Bonaparte had been made ruler-for-life, a decision ratified by a plebiscite and a year after that, he’d helped himself to the title ‘Emperor of the French’ via another plebiscite. In both cases, only males were allowed to vote (as was usual in those days) and each vote had to be recorded publicly – For or Against – in a giant public ledger. In other words, Bonaparte and his cronies knew exactly who was on their side and who was against them. Unsurprisingly, he had massive majorities both times, but equally unsurprisingly, his propaganda machine trumpeted long and loud about democracy and the will of the people.
One of Bonaparte’s first moves on seizing power – and it has been a hallmark of authoritarian democracies ever since – was to grab the unruly Paris media by the throat and bring it under very strict control. Hundreds of newspapers were closed, until only half a dozen or some were allowed to publish. Their content was closely controlled, with a focus on Bonaparte’s triumphs – real ‘good news’ stories.
As several critics have warned, South Africa is moving ever further down this path. Media groups like Independent Newspapers are brought closer and closer to the centre, while existing operations like the SABC are put on tighter choke chains. State advertising is deployed to ensure compliance and dependency. Bonaparte would have applauded loudly at the suggestion by Hlaudi Motsoeneng that journalists should be licenced, just like doctors and others. Guess who would issue the licences?
Two important points need considering. First, we know from history that as opposition parties use the last vestiges of democracy to pressurise authoritarian rulers, so the rulers shut off the valves. Zimbabwe once had a free media, now it has none. The shock delivered to the ANC at the recent election means that this process is already underway here.
The second point is that it’s a very short journey indeed from authoritarian democracy to outright fascism. After all, Germany’s Hitler, Italy’s Mussolini, Spain’s Franco and Romania’s Ceausescu all started off as democrats – and look what happened to their countries after that.