Leader issue is key to revamp of ANC

IN BUSINESS, when sales and profits decline progressively over time, it means among other key things that the erosion of the brand has set in and usually the task of rebuilding it can be very challenging and disruptive.

But it also means that the problems that caused the decline must be fixed before the brand rebuilding can resume. This is essentially what is meant by creative destruction.

History has many examples of global brands, such as Jaguar, that underwent creative destruction and then reconstruction with a new management team.

Others have disappeared from history through bad strategic judgment that led to self-destruction.

In business, the demise and disappearance of brands occurs all the time irrespective of how strong they were. For corporations, creative destruction is a means to restructure and transform in order to stay congruent with the dynamic market shifts. In the case of political parties, it is all about the need for overhauling leadership.

Self-destruction, however, is more common with political parties because of the nature of internal competition in such organisations. Leaders fight each other aggressively to be on top of the pile in order to have decisive control of state power and all the other opportunities and benefits that come with it.

In Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party that ruled nearly uninterrupted for half-a-century, imploded over policy failures and internal factional rivalry. In January 2009, I warned in a Business Day column that the ANC needed to deal with the destructive internal factional conflicts that had the potential to fatally erode the brand and support for the party. The reality we now face indicates clearly that the warning was ignored.

Brand management theory and strategy teaches that there are two fundamental violations that can destroy a brand. These are violating the brand promise and violating values that are important to the brand and its followers and customers.

For the ANC, the brand promise that managed to secure the considerable support it gained in the 1994 elections was framed around the main theme of building a nonracial democracy underpinned by fundamental human rights that are entrenched in the Constitution.

Nelson Mandela as a leader came to represent the organisational values that should be associated with the brand and that were embraced by the people. In the case of corporations, the reaction of customers can be immediate and brutal if the brand promise and values are violated. For political parties, the perceptions and decisions of the voters can only be known at the time of elections.

We now have a clear picture of what the voters think about the ANC in the light of the outcomes of the August local government elections.

The surveys that were done in order to understand what drives the service delivery protests that have erupted, identified the distance between voters and elected representatives as the principal cause. They also demonstrated that a lack of accountability and arrogance behind it, as well as egregious corruption, are eroding support for the ANC.

Anecdotal evidence demonstrates that the arrogance and the detestable ego displayed by the governing elite in its disrespect for the office of the public protector and its abuse of the justice system ranked highest as the behaviour rejected by the public and the supporters of the governing party.

The results of the local elections are a solid indicator that the ANC displays ideal conditions and the need for creative destruction and reinvention to survive and rebuild the brand.

The task of reinventing the organisation and repositioning its brand will be disruptive and challenging. But it cannot succeed without a comprehensive leadership overhaul. The ANC cannot use shortcuts to reflect on these challenges and reinvent itself in order to reconnect with its supporters.

Motsohi is an organisational strategist with Lenomo Strategic Advisory Services.

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