Public concerned about governance

AT least 1 500 ANC members will gather at the East London ICC from today to elect those who will lead the party in the province for the next four years.

To ANC members here and beyond, the three-day gathering is significant.

It is a culmination of months of campaigning which largely centred around two figures – Phumulo Masualle and Oscar Mabuyane, who are vying for the chairmanship.

Their campaigns have differed in nature, with Mabuyane’s appearing more spirited than Masualle’s.

However, this may not be a credible sign of what may come.

Ultimately outcomes of ANC conferences are decided by delegates at the ballot box.

Whatever the result, a win for either man will usher in a new dawn for the party, one from which their backers are no doubt lining up to benefit, politically or otherwise.

For the general public, however, this event may not enjoy much significance.

Not least because the ANC’s brand has increasingly lost its appeal as a result of the party’s self-destructive politics and rampant corruption.

Whoever is installed to lead the ANC at this conference will be mindful of this.

The question they must ask themselves is whether it is possible for the party to restore order within its ranks.

More important, for ordinary citizens, the question is whether the ANC can effect change in government.

It is whether it can fix our education system, create safer communities, build an economy and create job opportunities.

The ANC may be consumed by its current political dynamics, in particular its national leadership race to unfold in December.

But its leaders will do well to remember that for the 6.5 million people who live in this province, the priority remains effective governance.