ANC faces tough poll Motlanthe
DEPUTY President Kgalema Motlanthe has warned that the ANC faces a tough election next year when its “glorious history” will not be an automatic attraction to voters.
“It’s definitely not going to be an easy election as people assess a party not on the basis of its glorious history but on the basis of what they experience,” Motlanthe told the London business daily Financial Times.
This was his first newspaper interview since his failed leadership challenge against President Jacob Zuma in December.
He said he had no regrets about challenging Zuma in Mangaung. “It was about ensuring that the ANC continues to have faith in the process of elections as an instrument which is meant to strengthen the organisation.
“Once you do away with elections in an organisation and you arrange leadership, how else are you going to say the country’s elections are important?”
In his interview, Motlanthe said the ANC ran the risk of losing power if it took for granted its relevance to ordinary South Africans. “If it does not pay attention to the importance of being relevant to the people of South Africa then it will run the risk of losing power.”
He said while the ANC was going through internal strife, it had not reached the worst level.
“The crisis must reach its apex first. I think it will be self-delusion to believe it’s something that can self-correct. It has to get worse first,” he said.
He said the party was being taken to task by its own followers who demanded better services from the government.
“The people who lead [service delivery] protest marches don’t come from the opposition. They come from the ANC. So that in itself has an impact.”
Motlanthe lamented ANC members being “cut off” and expelled from a party in which the “principle of unity has always been paramount”.
“It’s just incomprehensible because it’s not political. I don’t think the motives are political. It’s more vested personal interests at play,” he said. “As an ANC member myself, there are things that I can’t comprehend and there are things that don’t make sense to me politically.”