Some thoughts on Herman Mashaba and arrogance Herman Mashaba has now made it clear, on numerous platforms that he will not work with Helen Zille, if a coalition between ASA and the DA is a possibility. Most recently, on the Sharp Sharp podcast, he said, “I have made it clear to the DA, in the city of Johannesburg, in the event - if they are lucky - if they get anywhere close to an opportunity to work with us, they must present someone else.” As things stand, the DA looks set to win the most votes in JHB, with 30%+, ASA, looks set to come in somewhere around 5th, with around 10%. Now, Mashaba has also - many, many times - declared the DA “arrogant”. It is an odd juxtaposition - one man, who would dismiss the will all those voters who voted for the DA and Zille, on the basis that he, Herman Mashaba, has an issue with her. But, simultaneously, label the DA arrogant. It would seem to me his position is the very definition of arrogance. And here it is important to understand what Mashaba is saying. It is perfectly reasonable for a party to write off any arrangement with another party. But you can’t have your cake and eat it. You cannot write off that party’s democratically elected representative, and have the party. The difference between those two things can only ever boil down to some personal grievance, for it does not apply to the voters - for them the two are intricately linked. Indeed, for many the individual - Zille - may well supersede the appeal of the party. And right there is where you find Mashaba, a man who’s vote share in JHB looks set to decline (in other words, he has lost support amongst the people), who seeks to dictate to a party that looks set to growth (in other words, which has grown its trust among the people). Any person who believes their personal experience so important it deserves to be elevated above the democratic will of hundreds of thousands of voters cannot but suffer some form of grandiosity that is out of control. It is an important insight into Mashaba: if he is willing to do that, to what degree, in any coalition arrangement, can he be expected to ever cater to the electorate? If his personal disposition is more important than voting itself, surely there is nothing he will respect other than his own will? One cannot be a good public servant, if the public’s position counts for nothing. If the situation does come down to a possible DA/ASA coalition, you can be sure Mashaba will replay every defamatory card he has shown this campaign. But that really will not be the point. The point, which all parties need to bear in mind, is this is a man who has promoted himself above the electorate. And it doesn’t matter which political party you are, that is the most dangerous type of person in politics. People say politics is the art of the possible. Nowhere is that more apposite than coalitions, which require compromise and maturity. For Mashaba, politics is the art of the personal, and that is the very definition of arrogance. No flag burns a brighter red.