ANC report on Western influence in politics comes under fire
A diagnostic report by the ANC on Western interference in politics in South Africa and regime change has been harshly criticised for implying that those fighting for radical economic transformation are “puppets” of “external forces”, used to create instability and conflict in government.
This as the scourge of violent protests, including for service delivery, continues to grow – which the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) says points to alarming signs of a civil revolt against government due to levels of instability which are fuelled by a challenging economic environment amid political dilemmas facing the ruling party.
The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) yesterday condemned the report and charged that it contained not “a shred of evidence” to back up this claim.
It further lashed out at the ANC for targeting those who protest for transformation to be realised.
“The document targets are the poor communities protesting against abject level of service delivery, the mineworkers who lost their lives at Marikana while fighting for a living wage and the civil society organisations such as #FeesMustFall, Corruption Watch, #OutsourcingMustFall, Equal Education and many others,” Saftu said.
“Without a shred of evidence or any specific examples, the document is implying that all those who are protesting and fighting for the implementation of the ANC’s own policies for ‘radical economic transformation’ or against corruption are just puppets of imaginary external forces who are using them to create ‘instability and conflict’ against the government.
“The document referred to ‘the increasingly widespread Western practice of overthrowing legitimate political authority by provoking internal instability and conflict against governments that are considered inconvenient and insubordinate to their interests, and replacing them with blind-puppet regimes that pander to their interests. That is a reality in South Africa. It’s a reality in the world’.”
But Saftu said the diagnosis was “a shameful return to paranoia” and witch-hunts seeking to delegitimise genuine grievances and struggles of the mass of the people.
“South Africa is the capital of the world when it comes to service
South Africa is the capital of the world when it comes to service delivery protests. The South African Federation of Trade Unions
delivery protests. Poor communities on a daily basis engage in protests about poor service provided by the mostly ANC councils.
“The document seeks to present these protests as an example of the typical work of imperialism.
“This is rubbish! The document seeks to shift the blame for the ANC government’s failure to solve the crisis of unemployment and inequality on to those who are the main victims of this failure,” it further charged.
“This document, instead of analysing why 20 million voters stayed away from the polls in the 2016 local government elections and before, is crudely trying to promote unity within the deeply divided ANC by whipping up emotions about imaginary threats.”