The father, the son and the RP

TWO men, in their mid-20s, sporting multi-coloured scarves around their necks, step into a lift from the top floor of a local hotel on a Saturday morning.

As the lift descends, one of the men untangles the blue, green, yellow and white scarf, folds it neatly and tucks it into the right pocket of his black trousers. They chat further in Nama/Damara on the way down to earth.They step out of the lift into the lobby.The second man slides the scarf off his shoulder, slips it into the inside pocket of his jacket, before they are swallowed by the Saturday shopping crowd.The reverse was to happen on their way up the top floor, where they were delegates to a one-day Congress of the Republican Party.The two are among a host of people whom the leader of the Republican Party (RP), Henk Mudge, boasted the previous day as evidence that his group was not a white party.The party was started by Dirk Mudge in 1977, and soon after helped set up the DTA, as a multi-racial grouping of apartheid backers.The RP was revived last year with the primary aim of getting whites into mainstream politics, Mudge had said.”We know that we can bring people [with skills] back into politics,” Mudge said in a background briefing for journalists the day before the Congress.”I’m talking about the white people …” He stressed:”We are not a white party, but somebody must look after the interests of the white people, and of the other people for that matter.”Speaking at the Congress, Mudge pointed to unemployment and poverty as the RP’s priority.And in his address to journalists, Mudge pledged that his party would get actively involved in providing solutions to the country’s problems.He took a swipe at opposition leaders who called for unity in order to fight the ruling party, Swapo.”Should opposition to the ruling party be the only common and unifying factor, without a common policy, such an opposition can only play an obstructive role and could never be considered as an alternative government,” he said.The party would enter into “discussions” with Government and offer solutions to issues such as affirmative action and land reform.Mudge described land reform as “an inherited political dilemma” that had to be dealt with.The RP so far appears to be the only party with a stated aim of addressing “moral degeneration”.”Abortion, sexual permissiveness, pornography, gambling, crime and corruption are evils undermining our society and should no longer be tolerated,” said Mudge, who pledged that his party submitted “unconditionally the supremacy of God in the affairs of our country”.The RP still had to set up a committee that will compile its list of potential National Assembly members.Mudge was elected as RP President for another year with Geoffrey Chilinda as vice president, Daan Holtzhausen as Chairperson, Clare Gowases as Vice Chairperson and Carola Engelbrecht as Secretary General.The party appointed Jackie Visagie to be its Chief Executive Officer.They chat further in Nama/Damara on the way down to earth.They step out of the lift into the lobby.The second man slides the scarf off his shoulder, slips it into the inside pocket of his jacket, before they are swallowed by the Saturday shopping crowd.The reverse was to happen on their way up the top floor, where they were delegates to a one-day Congress of the Republican Party.The two are among a host of people whom the leader of the Republican Party (RP), Henk Mudge, boasted the previous day as evidence that his group was not a white party.The party was started by Dirk Mudge in 1977, and soon after helped set up the DTA, as a multi-racial grouping of apartheid backers.The RP was revived last year with the primary aim of getting whites into mainstream politics, Mudge had said.”We know that we can bring people [with skills] back into politics,” Mudge said in a background briefing for journalists the day before the Congress.”I’m talking about the white people …” He stressed:”We are not a white party, but somebody must look after the interests of the white people, and of the other people for that matter.”Speaking at the Congress, Mudge pointed to unemployment and poverty as the RP’s priority.And in his address to journalists, Mudge pledged that his party would get actively involved in providing solutions to the country’s problems.He took a swipe at opposition leaders who called for unity in order to fight the ruling party, Swapo.”Should opposition to the ruling party be the only common and unifying factor, without a common policy, such an opposition can only play an obstructive role and could never be considered as an alternative government,” he said.The party would enter into “discussions” with Government and offer solutions to issues such as affirmative action and land reform.Mudge described land reform as “an inherited political dilemma” that had to be dealt with.The RP so far appears to be the only party with a stated aim of addressing “moral degeneration”.”Abortion, sexual permissiveness, pornography, gambling, crime and corruption are evils undermining our society and should no longer be tolerated,” said Mudge, who pledged that his party submitted “unconditionally the supremacy of God in the affairs of our country”.The RP still had to set up a committee that will compile its list of potential National Assembly members.Mudge was elected as RP President for another year with Geoffrey Chilinda as vice president, Daan Holtzhausen as Chairperson, Clare Gowases as Vice Chairperson and Carola Engelbrecht as Secretary General.The party appointed Jackie Visagie to be its Chief Executive Officer.