ANC is the sloth in the banana republic

‘DO we still have leaders who can save the ANC from itself?” Gwede Mantashe asked on October 30. The question should rather be: Do we have leaders who can save South Africa from the ANC’s moribund internal policies?

The ANC is a 100-year-old dinosaur that is plodding along with its same slow-to-react, don’t-rock-the-boat policies that make the likes of the Guptas and the Zumas rub their hands with glee.

At the speed with which the ANC makes decisions and changes, no matter what crimes have been committed — not upholding the constitution, for example — this partnership in crime can carry on for years and the economy will only go further and further downhill.

The ANC’s national executive committee knows what — or who — the problem is, but rather than show discord within the party it will carry on with No 1 until his term ends and by then South Africa will be firmly established in banana republicdom. However, the Guptas and the Zumas will have their billions so it won’t affect them. — Colin Currell, Bryanston

Abrahams’s main task

OF course National Prosecuting Authority boss Shaun Abrahams should be fired, both for the Pravin Gordhan fiasco, which shows he’s incompetent, and for refusing to reopen the corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma, which shows he’s biased.

But of course he won’t be fired, because he was appointed by Zuma to protect the latter from prosecution. — Dr Roger, Constantia

Treasonable behaviour

ABRAHAMS should not be let off. He must expose whoever is behind the plot against Gordhan. He should be charged with treason for trying to ruin the country and its financial stability. — CVB, Roodepoort

Blaming the messenger

NO one can be fooled by Moloto Mothapo’s article, “An ANC revolt so quiet it’s non-existent” (October 20), in which he criticised the Sunday Times instead of facing reality.

Did the ANC really need the Constitutional Court judgment to see that the Nkandla issue was absurd? What kind of leadership depends on court outcomes to differentiate between wrong and right?

Many voters decided to abstain from voting because of ANC factionalism, and the ruling party was at the receiving end. Is that the result of bad reporting by the Sunday Times?

The ANC parliamentary lekgotla failed to hold Zuma to account over his 783 charges and is looking for another scapegoat, the media.

Those who boycotted the polls did not avoid buying the paper, which does not hide their secrets. — Skhu, East London

Eruption of corruption

YOU don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out the “expired” writing on the wall for our No 1. The country and the ANC can no longer tolerate the stench from the corruption, and more will come . . . This is volcanic now and is ripping all apart. — Baba Saloojee, by e-mail

Powerful attraction

BARRY Ronge’s departure was a big nail in the coffin of the Sunday Times. Now the Power Report! How very sad. An excellent service to the consumer no longer. Does the Sunday Times value its old, traditional loyal readership? A sorry decision!

It would appear I will have to learn to live without my dose of the Sunday Times — regrettably. — Dina Muller, by e-mail

Stop this neo-nonsense

ACCORDING to Professor Sampie Terreblanche, in his book Lost in Transformation, the capture of the state is neither new nor unique to South Africa. Historically, South Africa has always been a prisoner of big business run by whites. The problem with the Guptas is that they are not white and are not from the West.

The problems facing South Africa today can be traced to the compromise sealed at Codesa. Africans thought they had obtained freedom, but their land and the economy remain in the hands of the oppressors. The Sunday Times should publish other perspectives instead of presenting the neoliberal one. Unfortunately, most educated black people have bought into this and thus fail to see the real truth. A luta continua! — Bonga Mthembu, Cape Town

Lessons from a scandal

RECENT history tells us that there are two important changes required to our constitution or our laws.

First, future presidents simply cannot have the unbridled power to do what Zuma has done to our state institutions, state-owned enterprises, cabinet et cetera. We are experiencing what happens if you get the wrong man in that position.

Second, the public protector should be required, or have the option, to finish any incomplete investigations and reports at the end of their term. — Willy, Cape Town

Listen to Mthembu

THE centrality of South Africa’s deepening political and economic crisis lies in its appalling lack of leadership. This was implicitly the catalyst for prominent ANC member Jackson Mthembu to courageously speak out. He said that top party leaders should step down. Those singled out by Mthembu must heed his call.

What they have in common are one or more of the following: naivety, lack of vision, incompetence, opportunism and parasitism. They have compromised millions of people. — Errol Horwitz, Fresnaye