By Gillian Schutte
As the narrative hegemony in South Africa gains unchecked power under the Government of National Unity (GNU), we find ourselves on the precipice of a deeply regressive era.
The establishment's relentless pursuit of silencing dissenting voices—those who dare to challenge the status quo—foreshadows a future where any deviation from establishment ideals is met with ruthless suppression. Iqbal Survé, Executive Chairman of Independent Media, is targeted because his media outlets pose a significant threat to the dominant liberal narrative.
Similarly, Jacob Zuma and Judge John Hlophe, who spearhead a party that challenges the liberal constitution and advocates for land expropriation, face unrelenting attack. Julius Malema and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), with their rallying cry for economic freedom in our lifetime, while Busisiwe Mkhwebane and Lindiwe Sisulu, known for their alignment with radical economic transformation politics, are vociferously condemned by the liberal media. What unites these figures is their shared opposition to neoliberal and capitalist ideals, making them prime targets for a hegemonic narrative that seeks to decimate any progressive forces threatening the status quo.
This is not a new phenomenon, but the GNU's open alignment with these oppressive tactics signals an intensification of this trend. We can expect an increasingly objectionable South Africa, one that mirrors the dystopian reality of Suzanne Collin’s novel "The Hunger Games," where the elite consolidate power by crushing progressive forces. As Frantz Fanon once said: "The colonial world is a world divided into compartments," a reminder that the forces of division and oppression are ever-present, and under the GNU, they stand poised to dominate our societal landscape.
The Epistemically Wayward Body and the Hegemony of Liberal Madness
In the current socio-political climate of South Africa, it is the wayward Black body that does not succumb to the epistemology of liberalism that faces the harshest discipline. This is a discipline enforced through derision, racist stereotyping and relentless exposure, while the greater sins of figures aligned with the establishment are conveniently overlooked.
The stark contrast between the ongoing scrutiny of Jacob Zuma and the relatively muted coverage of Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala scandal epitomises this double standard. A cursory nod to Ramaphosa's transgressions, just to maintain the façade of impartiality, is not equivalent to the relentless persecution of Zuma and others who challenge the neoliberal order.
This selective outrage reveals an amoral abyss into which we have sunk, where journalists from outlets like the Daily Maverick feel emboldened to abandon empathy in favour of juvenile heckling on anybody that does not kowtow to their liberal mandate. A particularly egregious example is the derisive comments made about a photograph of Independent Media Editor-in-Chief Adri Senekal De Wet posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Daily Maverick (DM) columnist Richard Poplak.
Convinced it’s Iqbal under there. pic.twitter.com/SnngzrnGRB
— Richard Poplak (@Poplak) July 18, 2024
The repugnant misogynistic commentary was overlooked by individuals like Marianne Thamm, a DM editor and a self-professed feminist, who joined in and commented on the photo rather than calling any of the hecklers to account. The proximity of this hideous display of chauvinism so soon after the DM published their study highlighting the abuse of women on social media is ludicrous and expedient, calling into question the rationality of liberalism. Is this the modern equivalent of the Dark Ages, where town criers riled up the masses to scoff at those being hanged or drawn and quartered by the Church while ignoring their own evil? What drives this arrogance and fuels the illogic of their consciousness?
The Grotesque Carnival of Liberalism
The phenomenon of public shaming and derision has historical precedents in the carnivalesque and the theatre of the grotesque. The carnivalesque, as described by Mikhail Bakhtin, involves a temporary suspension of hierarchical rank, privileges, norms, and prohibitions. It is a world turned upside down, where the usual order is subverted and the grotesque is celebrated. Bakhtin saw this as a way for the people to alleviate their anger at, and disavowal of, the ruling class.
However, in contemporary liberalism, this concept is misappropriated to extend the power of the ruling class. Instead of serving as a release for public dissent, the grotesque spectacle is now used in the media to shame and control those who challenge the dominant narrative. This phenomenon is evident in the modern-day digital lynchings, where social media becomes a stage for the grotesque, and those who dare to challenge the liberal narrative are subject to public ridicule.
Similarly, the theatre of the grotesque, as discussed by scholars like Geoffrey Harpham, highlights the use of the bizarre and the macabre to provoke strong reactions. This theatricality is evident in the liberal media's treatment of dissenters, where the monstrous portrayal of their actions and characters serves to dehumanise them and rally public sentiment against them. The relentless focus on the so-called sins of those who do not subscribe to the orthodoxy of liberalism, while downplaying or ignoring the transgressions of those within the establishment's camp, is a modern manifestation of this grotesque theatre.
The arrogance of this approach, and the sadistic madness underpinning it, can be traced to a deep-seated belief in the infallibility of the liberal order. This belief fosters an environment where empathy is abandoned, and derision becomes a tool to maintain the status quo. It is a reflection of an ideological insanity, where the liberal consciousness is consumed by its own self-righteousness, blind to its hypocrisy and the harm it perpetuates.
With its shamelessly duplicitous approach—promoting ideals of justice and equality while perpetuating a system that systematically undermines these very principles—it also exposes an inherent moral fissure at the heart of liberalism—an ideological disarray that mirrors a kind of psychosis, where the lines between moral righteousness and moral bankruptcy blur, resulting in a spectacle of violent hypocrisy.
Surely now is the time to recognise liberalism for its depraved nature. How long must we continue to flounder in its paradoxical embrace of both freedom and repression, while drowning in the cognitive dissonance served up by its ideological framework? Where do we find the light in this merciless system that champions individual liberties and human rights while simultaneously upholding systemic inequalities and suppressing dissent?
It must fall.
* Gillian Schutte is a film-maker, and a well-known social justice and race-justice activist and public intellectual.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.