Unless the ANC puts its house in order soon, it will become irrelevant

OUR efforts may be ignored or subverted, [and] the ANC will [then] surely die. But let it not be said that the ANC died without us trying to keep it alive and resuscitate it [to] bring it back to its former glory.”

These words were attributed to General Siphiwe Nyanda, speaking at the Umkhonto weSizwe Veteran’s National Council in Johannesburg.

He is the former head of the SA National Defence Force and a “real” Umkhonto weSizwe veteran, unlike . . . eh, the utterly Guptarised Kebby Maphatsoe.

At this event “real” Umkhonto weSizwe members tried to take back what is left of their organisation after clowns (or crooks) like Maphatsoe sold the name of the veterans to the Guptas at a discounted price.

Nyanda described their actions as a last-ditch bid to save the ANC.

He said if their efforts did not work or were “subverted” – obviously from within the ANC – the organisation would die.

Nyanda used words like “keep it alive” and “resuscitate it” to describe the operation intended to salvage his beloved organisation. His words in themselves were a clear indication that the devastating impact President Jacob Zuma has had at the helm of the organisation and the country has finally hit home.

“If corruption continues, delivery slows down. The legitimacy of the state goes down.

“It starts with the leader, then the party, then government and ultimately the state as such.

“[In] many countries where this happens there have been coups. This would not happen in South Africa. Here what will happen is that the ANC will lose elections.”

This was not Nyanda but another ANC stalwart, the renowned thinker and strategist Joel Netshitenzhe, speaking at the same event.

Netshitenzhe emphasised that the decline of legitimacy starts with the leader. It was very refreshing to hear what should be an obvious observation, but we seldom hear it due to the disingenuous “collective responsibility” approach.

Personally I do hope the current trajectory of our nation does not end in a coup. If all that holds the current ANC together is nothing but the JZ patronage network, then a lot is at stake for certain individuals.

But if the ANC refuses or can no longer change course, it must be removed from power for the sake of our people. And should it lose power, it will have no reason to exist.

Never one to miss an opportunity to jump into a hot mess . . . or create one himself, the . . . eh, president has just been implicated in a covert intelligence project allegedly set up to destabilise the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union.

The allegations emanate from a civil suit lodged in the North Gauteng High Court by Thebe Maswabi, a founder of the Workers Association Union (WAU) – apparently on instructions from Zuma.

He alleges he was taken to the Union Buildings by a State Security Agent agent four times in September and October 2013 for meetings with Zuma where instructions were given to establish the WAU – with assistance and funding from the SSA.

However, when the funding suddenly dried up a little later Maswabi was left badly in debt – which is why he has gone to court.

Former Cosatu boss Zwelinzima Vavi says if true, in creating “trade union mercenaries . . . No 1 was behaving, not like an elected president, but a gangster”.

This could add to the litany of unthinkable actions taken by a sitting president in a country recently regarded as a modern democracy!

What is amazing is why so many people who apparently regard themselves as hardcore ANC members have waited so long to show concern about the implosion that has long been evident.

That is not to say they did not air their views “inside” the ANC, but how is it that they failed to realise long ago that the ANC’s troubles had ceased to be “insider” issues?

So while I admire the likes of Nyanda and Netshitenzhe for finally speaking out in public, I think they have left it too late to change the fatal course taken by JZ’s ANC.

Meanwhile, those who did have the courage to publicly say that the ANC was veering wildly off course were branded “enemies” or “agents of white monopoly capital” and their warnings were disregarded.

But all have now apparently been awakened to the realisation that JZ has decimated the ANC and the country.

It will take some doing to get it back onto the course towards achieving a solid, inclusive, smart and sustainable future.