For the sake of our future

ANC stalwarts and veterans – under the banner ‘For the sake of our future’ – respond to the situation in the country.

HOW can we as a nation lurch from crisis to crisis, and state there is “no crisis”; how can we have a situation when our judiciary is forced to intervene in matters that in any properly functioning constitutional democracy it would be unnecessary to do so, stretching from Nkandla through to Sassa; how can we survive the so-called “Hawks”, whose role is “priority crime investigation” but are blind to the unacceptable levels of major corruption in companies and state-owned entities within our economy; how can we have the president of the ANC who ignores its own constitution; how can we accept decisions over ministerial appointments that cannot be in the interests of the economy; how can we have members of government who live beyond their income levels; how can we accept the emergence of ethnic and tribal factionalism?

How can we? Yet that is the reality we face every day.

We know there have been significant steps in areas of social welfare, housing, electrification and potable water. But we also know there are those in positions of power who are denying our citizens a “better life” because of corruption, self-interest, nepotism and the “capture of” or “gifting” of important positions within the ANC, state-owned entities, the private sector and government.

They are destroying the values and traditions of the ANC and the trust that the overwhelming majority of our citizens gave the ANC during the Struggle against apartheid and in the early days of our short democracy.

As we move closer to the 2019 elections, if we do not act we will see an acceleration of the looting of state resources and the positioning of those who will talk about “radical” solutions, but in reality the only interests they will serve are their own.

Within the ANC there has always been a principle of collective responsibility, but that collective responsibility can never stretch to protect those who do not have the interests of our country at heart. We will also hear that the ANC can “self-correct” and we must not air our concerns in public, but the crisis is too overwhelming. If there is not honest and open reflection of all that is wrong within our country and movement, it can only lead to debate behind closed doors and the further breeding of factions and slates.

This approach will only reinforce the tensions that exist between those who genuinely are appalled by the present trajectory of practices within the ANC and those that want to ensure that there is a life of self-indulgence and interest after 2019, even at the expense of electoral support within our economic heartland.

As stalwarts and veterans of the ANC our voices will continue to be raised in the memory of those who served the liberation Struggle; all that was right about that fight against apartheid and in the interests of the future of our country.

We believe the ANC can be saved from those who wish to use it as a vehicle of self-interest.

We know that every effort will be made to undermine all those who want to ensure the ANC returns to the values we should rightly be proud of. There will be attempts to co-opt; to “capture” and to “string us along”. These efforts will fail; although success can never be certain, history will judge us favourably. We appeal to all members of the ANC who are committed to serving our country without fear or favour to ensure that victory can be achieved.

The authors are signatories to the document “For the sake of our future”. The document was signed by 100 ANC veterans, including Ahmed Kathrada.