Only morality and introspection can revive ANC

THE ANC is the oldest liberation movement on the African continent, and while the majority of people on this rich continent live in generational poverty, cadres in the movement enjoy the benefits of generational wealth through corruption, cadre deployment and factionalism in the liberation movement.

The ANC succession battle is heating up, and there are two outstanding candidates to choose from, the first of which helped draft the constitution which most of us adhere to (excluding the president of the Republic), while the second is one of the longest serving government officials in South Africa, a woman who might realise the dream of many women who wish to be led by one of their own.

The fact is: this has been touted as a battle between a man and a woman, or a fight against the abolition of patriarchy in the Presidency, and that is where our problems start: we need to examine the qualities that these candidates have rather than what we see through the naked eye.

One reason Jacob Zuma was elected to the Presidency was because of a tribal affiliation.

This was used to discredit president Thabo Mbeki and to put him in the spotlight as a tribalist who only wanted Xhosas to lead South Africa, and to paint him as a man against reform.

That led to the worst decision we could have made when choosing a president in South African history.

To avoid making the same mistake twice, we need to forget about gender; we need to look at the qualities possessed by both candidates, avoiding loyalties to bring the organisation back from the grip of death, and avoiding being part of factions of corrupt syndicates to restore quality and faith in the ANC.

It is alleged that we have families choosing ministers in the current administration; we need to avoid having a situation where a family also chooses our future president. We have the competence as a nation to do that.

The only thing that can revive the ANC now is morality. If morality reigns supreme within the ANC, then it will regain its position as the voice of the masses.

If the ANC hopes to lead, it needs to take a hard introspective look at itself. ELON MOGALE

Pretoria