The purple cow in South African politics

PETA KROST MAUNDER

Well, if you are Kanthan Pillay, you start your own party so that those who feel the same way, can put their tick next to the purple cow (the ZACP logo).

Pillay – a media business expert – launched the ZACP, the Capitalist Party of South Africa, in March, and is going all out to get 10 MPs into the next national assembly. None of them are politicians. Mostly, they are out-of-the box, technology-sussed business people, and like him, they are sick of the way politics works in South Africa.

For Pillay, when protesters flung faeces on the statue of Rhodes on the campus of the University of Cape Town, almost coinciding with the 55th anniversary of Sharpeville in 2015, something was triggered in him. “I kept asking myself how we got here from the rainbow nation,” he says.

Then, in March 2018, when a five-year-old girl drowned inside a pit latrine at a school in the Eastern Cape, Pillay saw the “abject failure of the nation” in the horrific death of this bright, hopeful child.

The last straw was in June last year, when the leader of the Democratic Alliance, Mmusi Maimane, used his own wife as an example of white privilege. “I immediately registered the domain for a party, and put up a dummy website,” says Pillay.

“I want to live in a country that works, and I cannot leave that to politicians.”

Instead of doing what he sees other parties do, which is mostly to promise job creation, Pillay wants his party to be based on principles not outcomes.

And, even if his party only gets one person into parliament, he says, it is amazing what one person can do. “You only have to recall how effective Helen Suzman was as the lone voice of reason for 13 years in parliament. She singlehandedly created change, and kept the world informed.

“If I get 10 competent people into parliament, we can do much more as that is where most of the work is done… and where most of the crookery has happened.”

Pillay – whose daughter is Jewish by virtue of the fact that his ex-wife is Jewish – is well acquainted with the Jewish community. “My life has coincidentally been intertwined with Jewish people on a constant basis. I guess we understand each other. Both Hindu [his religious background] and Jewish communities have an emphasis on education and family.”

Pillay, who was integral to the launch of eTV (or eNCA today) and YFM, was asked by Johnny Copelyn to help guide the launch of ChaiFM, and even did Chai’s first promos.

The Capitalist Party calls its members “co-conspirators”, and they do things in a disruptive, innovative, and audacious manner. But, at the end of the day, says Pillay, “I am going to ensure that people no longer misspend our money. It is for purely selfish reasons – I want a better country.”

Pillay spent R200 000 from his own pocket to contest the elections, and sought out the right nine other people as potential MPs who fitted with his belief system. “We are treating our country like a startup. When you begin any business, you have to put equity in it,” he says. “If we get a single seat, we get our money back.”

He first approached Roman Cabanac, whom he met when he was his guest on The Renegade Report, a podcast that discusses politics, global affairs, and political ideology. The second candidate was Neo Kuaho, a successful serial entrepreneur and the founder of YDIDI (Youth Development through Investigation and Dissemination of Information). “When I started YFM, Neo asked me to put his information about scholarships and internships out on air. I gave him an early morning Saturday slot, and he has really helped people.”

His search for the right people for the party took him around the country. This belief in taking things one step at time plays out in how he plans to fix the country.

“We are going to use the ‘eating the elephant’ strategy. One mouthful at a time,” he says. There are 10 plans based on research by the Institute of Race Relations into what South Africans’ priorities are.

“Did you know that while the first priority is unemployment, the second is drug abuse. Nobody talks about the latter. However, they are always going on about racism and land reform, which amounts to less than 2% of people’s priorities,” he says.

“As a nation, we are a caring people. I travel extensively, and I see that our race relations are far better than anywhere. After our history, we actually go out of our way to avoid a resurgence of racial hatred.”

As the things on their list get sorted out, they will fall off the list so that they can focus on the next item. It is all very practical. In terms of drugs, instead of jailing drug abusers, they will send them to rehabilitation, treating them as patients rather than criminals, focusing on getting the dealers behind bars, not the addicts.

As for the issues close to many Jewish people’s hearts – Israel and anti-Semitism – Pillay believes we shouldn’t conflate the issues.

“Freedom of religion and association are and must be sacrosanct. It is the right of every individual,” he says. He speaks of how anti-Semitism so often begins in a belief of unearned reward, or an offhand comment that fuels hatred. “It is unacceptable.”

As for South Africa’s relationship with Israel, “it has to be based on enlightened self-interest. If the best source of oil is Iran, then we should buy from Iran, and if the best source of agritech is Israel, then we buy from Israel,” he says. “The Cape Town drought could have been alleviated if we had allowed Israel to help with desalination. It is absurd how we go about putting this veneer of sanctimoniousness on what we do.”

Time will tell how the party does in the upcoming elections.