Yearning for the day ANC sing from the same hymn book
ASIPHELELANGA (there are absentees amongst us), the chant dominant in ANC circles during rallies and other gatherings, is a reflection of the mood of the singers. Two famous versions are those that are either punctuated by Uph’uZuma? (Where is Zuma?) or Uph’uMalema? (Where is Malema?).
Those chanting become visibly emphatic about their preferences, betrayed by their facial expressions.
But how I wish for the day when the ANC and its structures use the same energy to sing from the same hymn book, when the refrain in the chant becomes uniform – when the organisation becomes the ANC founded on the principles of the mass democratic revolution.
We cannot keep mum while the ANC’s Rome is burning, as it directly affects the tranquility of the nation.
Policy directives are currently being debated . . . in December, all roads will march to Mangaung. But can we lead the nation while singing a discordant song?
The recent booing and singing during Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane’s address at the Youth Day gathering in Port Elizabeth, indicates ill-discipline within the ranks and it is high time that those who lead, stamp their authority so everyone will realise that Julius Malema is off-stage.
Maybe after the realisation of this truism the ANC will be able to sing in concert again. — Mziwonke Qwesha, Gonubie
THE ANC must do something to cure hooliganism within its ranks. The behaviour at the June 16 commemorations was similar to that at the Harry Gwala Stadium when the youth heckled Thabo Mbeki.
The then-ANC KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Senzo Mchunu, speaking on SAfm, said “the youth are angry that Thabo Mbeki removed Jacob Zuma as his deputy”. Youth that disrupted Collins Chabane delivering Jacob Zuma’s speech, were also angry – because Zuma removed Juju as ANCYL president.
Many leaders feared condemning those who heckled Mbeki, despite the fact that it was at a funeral for Moses Mabhida, leader of Sactu, SACP and ANC, recruited into politics by Harry Gwala and highly respected by Chief Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo, and the late King Sobhuza II and Samora Machel.
A commission to investigate the heckling of Mbeki was led by Chabane but never reported its findings. Now Chabane is disrupted in the same way as Mbeki – what a historical coincidence.
The current ANC must blame itself; it’s a response of ancestors Moses Mabhida and Harry Gwala that, in a function which required unity and respect, people were instigated to disrupt and heckle.
Zuma must ask elders such as Andrew Mlangeni, Ben Turok, Ruth Mompathi, Reggie September and the ANC Veterans League to burn impepho and apologise to Mabhida, Gwala and Tambo about what we saw at Harry Gwala Stadium and Port Elizabeth.
— Siyanda Mhlongo, KwaDukuza title. One wonders whether, in this day and age, the alderman honour is seen as an apartheid-era practice because no ex-mayor since 1994 has ever been called alderman.
In fact, in 1995 the ANC-controlled council honoured a councillor who had served for nearly 24 years with the title of freeman, which means nothing these days. Yet the late Robbie de Lange was always referred to as Freeman de Lange in the press. — Donald Card, Gonubie CAMBRIDGE High School will be celebrating Founder’s Day on September 14 and are anxious to have a reunion with the class of 1962, which left school 50 years ago. Phyl Russell, nee Cumming, has been tasked with tracking down and inviting the pupils who matriculated that year.
Members of the Cambridge class of 1962 who are interested in attending the reunion, can contact Russell for more information at phyl.chsreunion@gmail.com , or (046) 624-5541 or 079-872-7801. — Organisers, Cambridge High School reunion