In the early years of his presidency, late President Nelson Mandela quoted the words of Marianne Willamson in a speech when he said: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” Mandela said this at a time when the African National Congress was transitioning from being a liberation party to a party in governance. A party of people more accustomed to struggle than victory. More adept at the politics of resistance than the practice of governance.
I interpret Mandela’s use of that quote far less triumphantly than most people do. Rather than a projection of certainty and bravado, I argue that his use of Williamson’s poem was an outward reflection of a moment of doubt. An imposter syndrome. A hesitation about his and other comrades’ readiness to govern. His cautious contemplation was not misplaced.
Who were Pixley ka Isaka Seme, Walter Sisulu, Robert Sobukwe or Sophie De Bruyne when they decided to take on historic tasks of leadership? They were ordinary people. Some with relative privileges like education, but not so exceptional that they lacked counterparts with capacity to lead. What made these now towering figures in SA’s political history stand out was the extraordinary tasks they were willing to take on.
The IEC has on its records over 600 political parties. Over 320 of those contested the 2021 local government elections. A further 1,000 independent candidates have contested for political power. Who are these people who, in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, decided to move from the side-line critiques to the people “in the arena”, willing to take on big battles even without the certainty of success?
People who enter politics are people like you and me. They are people who have decided that their contribution to society and their path to purpose would best be served through political participation.
Throughout history, we see stories of some of the best and worst people in politics. While politics is often entered by some form of elites, this does not always mean that it attracts smartest or brightest minds, or that the smartest people will be the most successful politicians. But from Jefferson to Hilter and later Mandela, people who are successful in politics share in common a dogged display of commitment.
In the folktale about the chicken and the pig making breakfast, those who succeed in politics are the ones who are so committed that they are willing to provide the bacon, not only the eggs. People with skin in the game and willing to make sacrifices, big and small, to enter the political arena.
Given the access to resources and fame that could amass to political victors, it is logical that many assume that new political entrants step into the political arena for self-gain. With all the negative risks and costs, why else would people leave safer, more comfortable and less public lives? Why would people enter a world of dirty tricks unless they too had ill intent? When we ask these questions of others, we reveal more about ourselves then we do them.
In a moment in SA of great and multiple crisis, when many of us have capitulated to despair, demoralisation and demobilisation, when people like us or even those we regard as less suitable than we are to lead raise their hands to lead, perhaps we silently think, “who do they think they are?” because, like Mandela did in that early speech, we reflect our own insecurities about our capacity to take on historic tasks.
Some of SA’s best minds and people of good character lament the quality of political leadership, forgetting that even the worse among us will win if only the worse among us participate in the contest.
The task of building a better future for SA will require more than a new Mandela and the next political messiah.
When a ship is sinking it must be all hands on deck, with even the passengers having a role to play.
We all have a role to play because as biblical scholars remind us, “the race is not for the swift, nor the battle to the strong… but time and chance happen to us all.”
TESSA DOOMS | Leaders are ordinary people willing to take on extraordinary tasks
Successful politicians share a dogged display of commitment
Image: Karen Moolman
In the early years of his presidency, late President Nelson Mandela quoted the words of Marianne Willamson in a speech when he said: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” Mandela said this at a time when the African National Congress was transitioning from being a liberation party to a party in governance. A party of people more accustomed to struggle than victory. More adept at the politics of resistance than the practice of governance.
I interpret Mandela’s use of that quote far less triumphantly than most people do. Rather than a projection of certainty and bravado, I argue that his use of Williamson’s poem was an outward reflection of a moment of doubt. An imposter syndrome. A hesitation about his and other comrades’ readiness to govern. His cautious contemplation was not misplaced.
Who were Pixley ka Isaka Seme, Walter Sisulu, Robert Sobukwe or Sophie De Bruyne when they decided to take on historic tasks of leadership? They were ordinary people. Some with relative privileges like education, but not so exceptional that they lacked counterparts with capacity to lead. What made these now towering figures in SA’s political history stand out was the extraordinary tasks they were willing to take on.
The IEC has on its records over 600 political parties. Over 320 of those contested the 2021 local government elections. A further 1,000 independent candidates have contested for political power. Who are these people who, in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, decided to move from the side-line critiques to the people “in the arena”, willing to take on big battles even without the certainty of success?
People who enter politics are people like you and me. They are people who have decided that their contribution to society and their path to purpose would best be served through political participation.
Throughout history, we see stories of some of the best and worst people in politics. While politics is often entered by some form of elites, this does not always mean that it attracts smartest or brightest minds, or that the smartest people will be the most successful politicians. But from Jefferson to Hilter and later Mandela, people who are successful in politics share in common a dogged display of commitment.
In the folktale about the chicken and the pig making breakfast, those who succeed in politics are the ones who are so committed that they are willing to provide the bacon, not only the eggs. People with skin in the game and willing to make sacrifices, big and small, to enter the political arena.
Given the access to resources and fame that could amass to political victors, it is logical that many assume that new political entrants step into the political arena for self-gain. With all the negative risks and costs, why else would people leave safer, more comfortable and less public lives? Why would people enter a world of dirty tricks unless they too had ill intent? When we ask these questions of others, we reveal more about ourselves then we do them.
In a moment in SA of great and multiple crisis, when many of us have capitulated to despair, demoralisation and demobilisation, when people like us or even those we regard as less suitable than we are to lead raise their hands to lead, perhaps we silently think, “who do they think they are?” because, like Mandela did in that early speech, we reflect our own insecurities about our capacity to take on historic tasks.
Some of SA’s best minds and people of good character lament the quality of political leadership, forgetting that even the worse among us will win if only the worse among us participate in the contest.
The task of building a better future for SA will require more than a new Mandela and the next political messiah.
When a ship is sinking it must be all hands on deck, with even the passengers having a role to play.
We all have a role to play because as biblical scholars remind us, “the race is not for the swift, nor the battle to the strong… but time and chance happen to us all.”
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