ANC, drill others too – like Zuma

THE ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has decided to charge Makhosi Khoza for bringing the party into disrepute. All organisations have rules that members are obliged to adhere to. Khoza did something no organisation would tolerate – she openly criticised the leader of her party, President Jacob Zuma, and demanded he step down.

She is not the only ANC member to have done so, but what distinguished her from other Zuma detractors has been the extent of her criticism.

Khoza must have known her stand would result in an internal disciplinary hearing. She must also have known that, if found guilty, she risked losing her party membership and being recalled from Parliament as an MP.

That she continued to speak out illustrates just how strongly she felt about the issue. Khoza will probably not make it to Parliament on August 8, when a vote of no confidence in Zuma is to be held.

As much as the ANC is right to charge her, it should investigate and charge others who have brought the party into disrepute. This includes the president, who was found to have failed to uphold, defend and respect the constitution.

It is rich of the ANC’s national leadership to have left the KZN leadership to act against Khoza.

Why is the party not applying the same principles to its president? Why have double standards? Is it not Zuma, rather than Khoza, who is bringing the ANC into disrepute and tarnishing its image with his lack of leadership? Or is it because Khoza is a woman?

What is it that stops a party’s national executive from acting against the leader responsible for the rifts that plague an organisation once respected even by its opponents? What makes a party’s national executive ignore the pleas of its veterans – people who sacrificed so much and gave their all, out of love and commitment to the ANC?

The answers lie with the national executive members. It’s time they man up and deal with this matter once and for all.