Daily Dispatch
Time for ANC to ‘self-correct’
IT IS said that the first step to solving a problem is to admit to yourself there is one. In recent months, ANC parliamentary leader Jackson Mthembu has spoken candidly about the troubles plaguing the ruling party.
On Friday, Mthembu warned that the ANC could be heading for disaster come the national general elections in 2019 if it did not “self-correct”. He was speaking at the funeral service of ANC stalwart Malusi Maxegwana in East London.
Mthembu – who is a member of the national executive committee (NEC), the ANC’s highest decision-making body – made no bones about his disappointment in their once glorious movement.
“We have forgotten why we fought for our liberation. We have become corrupt to the core,” he admitted to mourners.
“We are busy making these spectacular own goals today as this liberation movement, the ANC.”
As the governing party, the ANC has had to endure criticism from many a dissenting voice, be it from opposition parties, civil society or the general public.
However, when one of its senior leaders concedes that the ANC is fractured, “including the highest level of our organisation”, it speaks volumes about the magnitude of the problem facing the organisation.
This was not the first time Mthembu has broken ranks.
In October last year, following a decision to charge Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, the ANC parliamentary leader called on the entire NEC to step down, saying “perhaps we are not the leadership that can take the ANC forward”.
In what could be seen as yet another prominent leader taking a stand and speaking out against corruption within the party ranks, Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor revealed to the Sunday Times at the weekend that the ANC had failed to implement an NEC decision to audit the lifestyle of party leaders.
She questioned how some cabinet members could afford lavish homes on a state salary.
“How could a colleague have a 13-bedroom house and another a three-bedroom house?”
The Sunday Times reported that the audit had been rejected by supporters of President Jacob Zuma. In December, the ANC heads to its national elective conference where the party will vote for a new leader.
Behind the scenes, the prospective candidates have, unofficially, been campaigning fiercely for the job to lead the country’s governing party. The elected leader – be it a man or woman – will face the colossal challenge of trying to mend a fragmented organisation and restoring lost faith before South Africans go to the polls two years from now.
The ANC is still reeling from a humiliating defeat in the municipal elections last year when it lost control of three metros.
It is this loss that should serve as a motivating factor for the party to get back to its roots of putting the people first and not serving the interests – and pockets – of individuals.