ANC in state of toxic immobility

Politically, we are in a state of paralysis — with citizens unable to do anything about it.

When a great white or tiger shark is attacked by whale sharks, they normally turn it upside down and hold it in that position until it reaches a state of paralysis, and then begin to feed on it while it’s alive and conscious.

That’s the precise situation the ANC finds itself in today, everybody wants a piece of it, and they are not sympathetic to it at all.

How did the ANC, a welloiled and respected organisation in the country and the world over, arrive at where it is today?

For anyone to appreciate the prevailing conditions in the ANC and the country, one would have to look back to where it all began, but, to understand that, we have to chronologically give an account of the ANC’s programme, including how it has governed.

The ANC ascended to political power after the national elections in 1994, having to pick up the pieces after apartheid capitalism and the squandering of the country’s resources by the likes of Anglo American and some European countries which controlled our mineral resources.

The ANC initially adopted conservative economic policies to manage the mayhem and economic destruction caused by colonialism.

The ANC followed three programmes.

The first, led by former president Nelson Mandela, was about the establishment of a nation, or nation-building, which mainly followed a process of reconciliation and uniting South Africans; the second process was about the beneficiation of Africans in the wealth of the country; and the third remains corruption and thieving.

That is what has led us to where we are today.

This continues to destroy the country in ways never imagined during the time South Africans achieved political independence.

The ANC abandoned all programmes to free our people.

Now it’s a free for all, everybody does what they want, eating the ANC and the government while it’s still alive, and the ANC is unable to stop this.

The latest behaviour by taxi associations speaks volumes about the state and nature of governance in our country.

How long will South Africans be held to ransom by politicians? When will our people enjoy the hard-foughtfor revolution?

Do our children and the next generation have a future at all? Are we going to spend the next 400 years in the same way as we did during apartheid colonialism?

Is today’s ANC still the viable vehicle for liberating our people?

Mlamli Tsotsi, Port Elizabeth