Frankly, I have thought about it. I have, simply, never convinced myself it would be a good idea. You join the ruling party, and you are reduced to a zombie like they want to do with Honourable Ignatius Moswaane and Honourable Mephato Reatile. I know they would chase me away the first time I open my mouth. I would really find it hard saying that President Mokgweetsi Masisi is right on Banyana Farms. I am not an idiot. But the UDC have a similar disease, even if it may be slight different. They insult those who differ with them. I wish there was maturity in our politics. I wish people could differ without being considered adversaries. I wish we could all learn that we differ so much because we all love our country so much. Intolerance for dissent is not just a ruling party trait. It is there in the opposition as well. This disease further manifests in inter-party relations. I am not politically ignorant. I know that by nature party politics are adversarial. But so is our legal system. We fight and trash each other in Court. At lunch, we use the same car to the hotel for lunch. Then we come back and fight and trash each other again. It is not about us. It is about justice. In our politics, it is not about Batswana, it is about the party.
My case is about the emphasis on party politics over the national agenda and whether there is really, a halfway house. I think there is. It makes sense for a political party, especially a party in power, to be obsessed with credit. It is such credit, after all, that betters its chances for reelection. But there is always a point where it becomes toxic. A perfect example presented itself, the other day. Annah Mokgethi, a good woman by me, nearly lost all semblance of hardwon personal dignity attempting to defend a silly party position force-fed on her by alpha males within the ruling party. I am not even sure she has recovered yet from the personal reputational harm incurred. In an instant, she was perceived as a woman who had betrayed the struggle. I know it was all out of pressure from the patriarchal, power hungry, male dominated party caucus. I can say that on this issue, Mokgethi suffered gender based violence. I still think she should have told them where to get off, or even tendered her resignation. But that was her call, not mine.
