Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
ANC veterans slam party leadership
Top six snub stalwarts’ consultative conference
THE ANC’s top brass came under fire on the first day of the party’s stalwarts’ national consultative conference yesterday as they were accused of enabling the rot in the state.
Veterans of the ANC are assembling at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg this weekend to reflect on problems plaguing the ruling party and the country.
The conference, which includes civil society organisations, is also being attended by several senior members of the party despite the ANC’s decision not to recognise it.
The chairperson of the group of stalwarts who organised the conference, Wally Serote, slammed the party’s leadership for throwing the country into “deep social, cultural and political stress” through unethical behaviour.
“We are continuously being dragged into a state of destitute and illegitimacy, emanating from the actions of some of our elected leaders, executive members and members of Parliament.
“The result of this alien experience to the ANC is that the gains of our national democratic revolution are under serious threat as constitutional institutions become eroded,” Serote said.
He called on the conference – which ends tomorrow – to identify the root cause of the crisis, which has seen the ANC lose moral authority.
“We must reach a consensus on what must be done to rescue and save our country,” Serote said.
Nelson Mandela Foundation chairperson Professor Njabulo Ndebele was scathing about leaders being implicated in corruption.
“The ANC that was elected, was elected to support law and order, and constitutional rule. In several aspects of its conduct, it has abdicated that responsibility.
“It has itself become the thief that steals,” Ndebele said.
He said under President Jacob Zuma, the government had been turned into a criminal syndicate that protected itself from the consequences of its own transgressions.
“It has become a matter of absolute importance that that all South Africans recognise at this moment the necessity to rescue their country and themselves from the parallel, secret and security-driven state which has consolidated in the last 10 years into an organised criminal order that wilfully defrauds the state,” Ndebele said.
While none of the ANC top six attended the conference, former president Thabo Mbeki and several members of the ANC national executive were in attendance.
National Assembly deputy speaker Lechesa Tsenoli hailed Ndebele’s remarks, saying they were shared by many within the ruling party. “His remarks were a fascinating, thoughtful reflection of the current condition and I think it will reverberate and be with us for a very long time,” Tsenoli said.
Tsenoli described the no-show by the party’s top officials yesterday as regrettable.
ANC presidential hopeful Lindiwe Sisulu also took a swipe at others who claimed to want to restore the party to its original values, but had snubbed the conference organised by the stalwarts.
Sisulu said if other presidential hopefuls were serious about their campaign message of renewal, they would have joined the ANC’s old guard in reflecting on the crisis facing the party and the country.
The stalwarts are set to craft a declaration of what is needed be done to save the ANC.
ANC national spokesperson Zizi Kodwa refused to comment on the conference, saying he did not know how its recommendations would be implemented.
“I don’t know. The ANC did not convene a consultative conference, It was convened by the veterans and stalwarts of the ANC,” Kodwa said.