&25 YEARS AGO

Alarmed by increasing internal tension and a range of government crises, the ANC is embarking on a soul-searching, stocktaking campaign to draw the party together in the runup to its national congress in December.

The head of the ANC’S political education department, Joel Netshitenzhe, said this week that the party would start a national discussion on key issues, which could see its constitution redrafted at the December gathering.

[...] Meanwhile, there are deep currents of alarm swelling across the ANC leadership at what is perceived to be a failure to deliver on its election promises.

This alarm is felt particularly among leaders in the provinces, many of which are in serious administrative disarray and vulnerable to corruption. The failure of national government to reform and invigorate the public service is, in many instances, seen as the central problem.

“There is an admission that we are running into serious problems … there is an element of panic about governance and delivery,” said one senior provincial ANC leader. — Mail & Guardian, 27 June to 3 July 1997