Rise of far-right populism

This week’s brazen storming of Capitol Hill – the United States’ seat of power – by throngs of right-wing Donald Trump supporters, had all the hallmarks of South Africa on the eve of democracy.

In scenes similar to what we have seen in the US, about 3 000 members of the Afrikaner Volksfront (AV), Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) and other right-wing Afrikaner paramilitary groups, stormed the World Trade Centre in Kempton Park, almost 28 years ago.

At the time of the attack, the World Trade Centre was the venue for multiparty negotiations to end apartheid through the country’s first all-inclusive elections.

Considering the talks as a betrayal of white aspirations, standing and privileges, the extremists were vehemently opposed to the multiparty negotiations – branding National Party leaders involved in the process as “sellouts”.

An armoured vehicle was used to crash through the large glass door, with the group storming inside to disrupt proceedings at the talks, attended by chief negotiators Cyril Ramaphosa, Valli Moosa, Roelf Meyer, Dawie de Villiers, Benny Alexander, Joe Slovo, Bantu Holomisa and others.

Parallels should be drawn on how US police reacted to the Capitol Hill thuggery and the failure of the SA Police in 1993 to decisively stop the swastika emblem-clad AV and AWB members from storming the World Trade Centre.

In both incidents, no reinforcements were on hand to beef up security.

In the US, some cops were spotted taking selfies with Trump supporters – clearly showing where their political loyalties lie.

It is ironic that the same US cops who last year reacted aggressively against unarmed African-American protesters under the banner of the Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality, could not deal with the Trump private army with the same zeal.

The rise of far-right populism espoused by Trump – as seen during his presidency in the US – has become a threat to global democracy and security.

The election of Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro is a clear demonstration of how far-right populism and authoritarianism can plunge a country into a polarised society.

Bolsonaro’s campaign placed at its heart an authoritarian and xenophobic vision of the Brazilian society.

Like Trump, Bolsonaro declared that he would not accept election results if he lost.

He defended Brazil’s decades-long brutal military dictatorship, threatened to shoot supporters of the opposing Workers’ Party and vowed to pack the country’s supreme court with sympathetic jurists – prosecuting those questioning his authority.

Like many right-wing populists, Bolsonaro embraced racist, homophobic and misogynist rhetoric, achieving a level of provocation so incendiary that the country’s attorney general charged then-candidate Bolsonaro “with inciting hatred and discrimination against blacks, indigenous communities, women and gays”.

Bolsonaro’s rise to power is only the latest chapter in a global resurgence of right-wing populism.

Far-right populist parties across Europe have seen a growth in public approval, making parliamentary gains in 15 of the 27 European Union member countries over two election cycles.

As president-elect Joe Biden is days away from taking over the reins in the US – with Democrats having taken over the House of Representatives and the Senate – he is now emboldened to implement his agenda.

Key to that agenda is undoing the damage caused by Trump, which includes nation-building.

Brian Sokutu.

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