Ace suspension sparks hope for ANC renewal

At the risk of sounding like an ANC supporter, the organisation seems well on its way to its long-touted renewal.

The suspension of ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, notwithstanding his desperate antics to resist, has put the gigantic ruling party on a good footing to undertake the desperately needed renewal.

Making his submission as president of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa referred to resolutions made in the ANC’S 54th National Conference.

Among the resolutions he mentioned was that the ANC would, “Summarily suspend people who fail to give an acceptable explanation or to voluntarily step down, while they face disciplinary, investigative or prosecutorial procedures”.

We all know the ANC is no stranger to playing the game of politics, often delivering nothing but promises.

But it is encouraging to note that the resolution referred to by Ramaphosa in his submission before state capture inquiry chair, deputy chief justice Ray Zondo, has started to take effect.

Hopefully, every other affected ANC leader will soon face the same fate. This is important for our nation in several ways, considering the outsized influence of the ANC in South African society.

Firstly, it demonstrates the process of leadership in that pronounced resolutions are now being followed through.

It is easy to take this for granted considering this is how things should be anyway under normal circumstances.

But our circumstances are far from normal, and these actions are a painfully slow move towards what may be referred to as normal.

Our state of abnormality has a historic context to it.

We come from a past which is so far from normal that our society may be forgiven for not knowing what is normal.

Perhaps, this is why we have forgiven so much of the excesses of the ruling party, as we are not yet clear about what is normal for a modern society.

We know what we want, but this does not always translate to knowing how to achieve what we want.

Unfortunately, our leaders have committed a massive “dropping of the ball” along the way which has not made things any better.

However, once again, the acknowledgment of this shortfall by Ramaphosa is an important and historic admission which allows our society to refocus and possibly place itself on a trajectory towards recovery.

Secondly, the ANC’S follow through on Ramaphosa’s pronouncements also reintroduces what is often referred to as consequence management.

This is an area in which the ANC has performed poorly.

However, poor consequence management is not displayed by the ANC alone.

Our entire nation suffers from poor consequence management. Part of this problem emanates from a mistaken association of consequence management with ill treatment, or oppressive leadership, and we know how sensitive we are to that.

But part of it is due to poor consequence management being modelled by the ANC in front of the entire nation for a very long time.

Many delinquent leaders have used the idea of redefining consequence management to mean unfair treatment as a ruse, knowing very well what they are doing.

However, we cannot say the same for many of their supporters. Supporters are often genuinely but mistakenly keen to protect those who present themselves as victims.

Even as we speak, people like Magashule still have some sympathetic followers who think he is being treated unfairly.

Of course, the master of this abuse of trust was former president Jacob Zuma, who deployed it for most of his political career, particularly during his rise to the presidency and his entire tenure as president.

Thirdly, the ANC is a learning institution. Because of its influence, its power, its emotional reach and its earlier ethical resonance with our society, its actions teach.

So, the current actions are now teaching this nation how an organisation is run, how it should not be run and how it renews itself.

This is independent of its intentions. As we watch earnestly, sometimes completely exhausted of the negative influence of the ANC in the face of what needs to be done, we are still learning.

Of course, it is much better to learn what needs to be done by witnessing it being done. Therefore, it is exciting to note the role of citizens in influencing their own learning.

“The ANC became less attractive to ordinary citizens who should support and join it and that led to election loss or diminishing support that we see.”

“With this in mind, we decided we need to change so that the ANC can renew and generate itself,” said Ramaphosa.

Well, in the end, it is the citizens who decide where we go then, isn’t it?

The ANC became less attractive to ordinary citizens who should support and join it