Serving the people, not factional battles, should be ANC focus

The silly season is well and truly upon us. With just over five months to go before ballots are cast in the 2021 local government elections, the ruling party is battling inner turmoil. ANC secretarygeneral Ace Magashule has played a starring role in much of the political shenanigans that have dominated headlines of late, refusing to obey party orders to step aside pending the outcome of his criminal trial. And not only has the axe come down on the SG, but several other prominent leaders and members have suffered a similar fate. But Magashule has remained defiant. After being issued a letter of suspension last week, he tried to turn the tables on his party in a bizarre move by suspending in turn the president of the ANC and country, Cyril Ramaphosa.

Magashule trended yet again at the weekend. He caused a stir when he logged into a virtual ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Saturday and in a separate incident locked horns with Eastern Cape ANC chair and premier Oscar Mabuyane.

The SG came out guns blazing, alleging that money stolen from local councils had been deposited into Mabuyane’s account in an interview aired on the SABC on Friday. Mabuyane retaliated and on Saturday threatened legal action against Magashule for his assertions.

For those on the sidelines, and even within the party, it has all made for some interesting viewing.

Social media’s quasipolitical analysts have had a field day unpacking what these public spats mean for the party.

It is evident that the divisions within the ruling party run deep. While all political parties have skeletons in their closets, the spotlight on the ANC as the governing party shines ever brighter.

But this political mudslinging and attempts at selfpreservation within the ANC can only serve as distractions from fulfilling their mandate of serving the people of this country. With an election ahead the attention typically shifts to what progress has been made and what challenges still loom large.

More than that, the country is desperately trying to rebuild itself from a pandemic that has devastated the economy. Thousands of jobs have been lost and businesses forced to shut their doors.

Every day there are South Africans who live in squalid conditions and go to bed hungry.

These are the issues that should be dominating the agenda and conversations in the ANC, not factional battles and the political survival of individuals.

The political mudslinging within the ANC can only serve as distractions from fulfilling their mandate of serving the people of this country