The question before us is whether a coalition government that includes the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania alongside parties such as the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) can bridge a fundamental ideological chasm, with the PAC’s mandate for dispossessed Africans and the redress of land injustices, versus the FF+ and DA’s reputations as custodians of a historic privilege rooted in colonial and apartheid-era hierarchies.
To grapple with this, we must examine the premises, the stakes, and the political mechanics at play, while avoiding exaggerated pictures of people that ignore details, and talking mainly about how to run things and whether it’s right.
First, the core assertion is that FF+ and DA are direct beneficiaries of colonialism and apartheid; on the other hand, the PAC has an unwavering commitment to self-determination and will never be narrowed to please coalition partners who do not want bold changes.
This highlights a moral and political legitimacy; one side seeks restitution for past harms, the other side represents inherited privilege that continues to shape policy outcomes.
If we suspend rhetoric and test the logic, the central question thus becomes, can a coalition built on such divergent moral narratives coexist in a way that yields tangible redress without collapsing into stalemate?
In any coalition that the Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania is part of, the basic principles that can never be compromised, according to the organisation’s foundational documents, centre on bold redress for past injustices.
The organisation was formed to fight to restore the usurped land of Africans.
The FF+ and the DA are at opposite ends of the political spectrum, while the PAC firmly wants strong redress.
Coalition governance demands compromise: budgets, ministerial appointments, oversight structures, and legal frameworks all require cross-party agreement.
The question is whether such compromises can be calibrated in a way that preserves core redress objectives while delivering practical governance outcomes that improve lives in the present.
On the policy front, the PAC’s claims center on land repossession and restitution, complemented by affirmative action and targeted development.
If these aims are to survive within a Government of National Unity framework, they must be protected by concrete, non-negotiable guardrails.
This would entail binding legislative commitments, time-bound targets, independent monitoring, and explicit legal provisions that protect expropriation avenues and land administration reforms from parliamentary rollbacks or executive discretion.
The counterpoint to this line of reasoning is the practical reality that the FF+ and DA have political incentives that do not align with the return of the land to indigenous Africans.
The PAC, in turn, articulates a clear non-negotiable red line: land return to the indigenous Africans be prioritised.
The PAC’s participation in a Government of National Unity with FF+ and DA risks diluting its historic mandate for land restitution and redress, potentially betraying its foundational premise of repossessing land and securing tenure for those historically dispossessed.
A Government of National Unity that bridges a PAC mandate with FF+, DA, and, in that matter, an unrepentant ANC cannot sustain meaningful land reform without betraying dispossessed Africans because such a coalition fundamentally pairs incompatible ideological commitments.
*Xola ‘eXTee’ Tyamzashe is an Apla veteran. and a prominent figure in South African history and politics, known for his contributions to the Pan-Africanist movement. The views expressed by Xola ‘eXTee’ Tyamzashe are not necessarily those of The Bulrushes
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