The discursive manifestation of two publics

The case of selected speeches of three former African leaders

Abstract

The explanation of the political problem pervading the majority of countries in post-colonial Africa lies in the existence of two publics namely, the amoral civic public and the primordial public, which African political leaders are said to operate in. The amoral civic public, which includes institutions such as the military and the civil service, is dominated by the primordial public, which is based on primordial ties and gives politicians their moral framework. Using the practices of Political Discourse Analysis (PDA) which falls under Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) and perceives discourse as an (social) action, this paper explores how the two publics manifest in selected speeches of three African leaders namely former Lesotho Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, former South African President Jacob Zuma, and former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. The speeches, taken from media outlets such as newspapers, were chosen on the bases that they generated controversy and were widely discussed in media. The paper explains how some elements of the speeches that fulfil the requirements of a good image in the primordial public contravene the principles and norms of democracy. The findings show that that there is an existence of two publics that have a relationship with each other and which are the cause most of the problems in post-colonial Africa.