Ndileka Mandela, please don’t turn your back on the ANC

MY DEAR sister Ndileka, I read of your heart-wrenching decision with empathy and understanding. I am sure this was not an easy step for you to take as the ANC has been the heartbeat of our family for many years.

One can only imagine the many crises and challenges our grandfather, uTatomkhulu Nelson Rolihlala Mandela, lived through since joining the ANC in 1944. uNkosi Dalibhunga demonstrated that the way to resolve conflict was through engagement and perseverance – not turning one’s back. The ANC does not belong to any individual or group. It is our collective duty to set our house in order.

We were saddened, as were you, by the events that led to the loss of life in the Esidimeni tragedy. In the true spirit of our Struggle, proud family history and responsibility towards our nation, there must be accountability for such gross neglect and dereliction of duty. The ANC has expressed sympathy with the families of the deceased and called for appropriate action to be taken. It is a blight on a proud record of providing primary health care to millions over the past two decades of democracy. The preventable loss of just one life is one too many and we must ensure that pressure is brought to bear so that the innocent lives lost were not lost in vain. Nobody is above reproach.

The facts of the social grants crisis are a matter of public record. It must and will receive the attention it requires. I can understand that you are upset. However, I want to assure you that the grants will be paid to the nearly 17 million recipients. That in itself is a great achievement of our democracy and in no small measure to the credit of the ANC.

In addition, I want to bring to your attention that the instruments introduced by the ANC government to deal with such crises remain intact. We have a functioning cabinet, organs of state and judiciary. Nobody is above the law. Again, uTatomkhulu demonstrated his willingness to subject himself to this legal process in his lifetime.

I call on you, Mafungwashe wasekhaya, to reconsider your decision. Please do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. What we are dissatisfied with in the ANC is our obligation to set right. Abandoning the ANC does not serve the people of South Africa; it serves only to weaken the ranks of those who want to restore our beloved organisation to the pride of place it deserves, and to strengthen the hands of those for whom democracy is an anathema.

The prophets of doom – they who yearn for the apartheid days of yesteryear – will rejoice in finding a new voice and feeding off the negative publicity.

My plea to you is to be part of the effort to breathe new life into the ANC and re-inculcate the values and principles that secured our democracy.

We are reminded of the wisdom of Comrade Ahmed Kathrada when he said in December last year: “We are heartened that from within the ranks of our movement there are leaders like Madiba, with credibility, accountability, commitment to the people of SA and foresight. They are leaders who, like Mandela, are ahead of their times. Such leaders are able to rejuvenate and modernise the ANC so that it can meet the needs of the 21st century, while still valuing its old and wise traditions. Such leaders have been unafraid to put their positions to the test.”

It is my hope that you, my sister, will be remembered not for turning away when the house was on fire but for following the advice of our wise elder and helping to rejuvenate and modernise our political home, the ANC.

Help us breathe new life into the party

Mvezo, Eastern Cape