Water scandal shows dark side of the ANC

THE callous manipulation of state resources to suit the ruling party is cynical in the extreme. It adds a new, nauseating dimension to the notion of state capture.

Serious investigation is warranted into reports that senior ANC members issued a directive to their comrades in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands region to strategically withhold or release water.

The ANC has hotly denied the story. But if it is true that the party issued such an instruction, it would suggest that the ANC calculates that demonstrating its control of a life-giving resource will boost its image of power among the electorate.

The ANC governs thanks to its majority at the polls.

It ought to be seized with dutifully fulfilling its mandate to improve the lives of the poor.

To corrupt this mandate in an attempt to strengthen its position in the build-up to the local government elections in August would not make the ANC unique among the world’s ruling parties. All political parties abuse state resources to varying degrees to try to maintain their grip on power.

But to do so in a developmental state, where life depends on water, is cruel. It demonstrates disregard for the people the party claims to serve.

Ordering comrades to take control of reservoirs is like something out of George Orwell’s totalitarian novel 1984.

It reveals a dangerous mindset, one doggedly obsessed with control at all costs.

Politicians journeying down this road can seldom turn back. They become addicted to power and justify all manner of folly in the process.

A party memo referred to openly by comrades also talks about actively suppressing criticism, both inside the party and out.

The language of the memo is thoroughly inimical to democracy. It calls for party leaders to deploy officials who are either malleable or favorably disposed to the ANC so they can take control of the supply of water.

Direct control of reservoirs, the ANC in the region believes, will eliminate a situation where the “wrong” officials start asking questions.

The authors of the instruction want supremacy at all costs, regardless of the misery caused to citizens who are deprived of water. There is another sinister aspect to the story. Internal ANC strife in the Midlands has claimed the lives of four ANC members in a week.

This reflects deadly undercurrents to the exercise of power. This is disturbing, especially as a new ANC provincial regime settles in.

Concerned party members have legitimately raised questions about the murders, the misuse of resources and who stands to benefit.

One thing is sure — it is not the poor who are the beneficiaries.

There ought to be a thorough investigation into this issue, which appears to be yet another odious example of how some in the ruling party see no distinction between the party and the state.

This investigation needs to be conducted by an independent institution such as the public protector’s office. The allegations are too grave to be left to internal party processes and the police.

To prejudice poor people by denying them access to water is shameful and should prompt serious introspection.

South Africa is already woefully afflicted by “deployed cadres” who put the interests of the party above those of the people.