Every ANC faction for itself amid the chaos

HOPES of a period of self-introspection by the ANC after a disastrous showing in the local government elections last month were dashed this week.

What we got instead was more like civil war in the party, with the future of South Africa caught in the crossfire.

The battles have nothing to do with rebuilding the battered party and everything to do with its leading lights trying to survive.

I don’t understand how it can help the government or the party for the minister of mineral resources, Mosebenzi Zwane, who is still getting to grips with his portfolio, to become the National Treasury and the Reserve Bank’s most vocal critic.

How do you explain the criticism of the central bank from ANC deputy secretarygeneral Jessie Duarte, who questioned its independence on a public platform?

Who does the uncertainty really benefit? Certainly not the party, which now faces a real possibility of losing national power in the foreseeable future.

For Zwane, whose appointment to the portfolio last year is seen as having been sanctioned far from the president’s residence, the attacks on the Treasury and the Reserve Bank seem to cement the view that he is in the cabinet to do the bidding of a patron, not serve the country.

His suggestion that the Reserve Bank’s authority to license lenders be withdrawn and placed in the hands of a politician makes no sense, if the goal is to maintain a stable financial sector. Tell me how that would better ensure stability in the system.

During his brief tenure so far at mineral resources, Zwane has raised the threat of mining companies losing their licences.

Admittedly there are some miners that should rightfully face that threat, especially those not following the required safety standards.

But the side effect of the threat has been a dearth of new mining investment. Few, if any, shafts have been sunk in recent years in preparation for an eventual supply squeeze in commodity markets. Not many shareholders would give the green light for their CEO to go ahead with such plans in an industry in the throes of such uncertainty.

So let’s say Zwane was to succeed in persuading his cabinet colleagues to agree to his outrageous plan. Can you imagine placing that level of power over South African banks in the hands of a politician?

I don’t care how saintly that person might be, but you cannot convince me that there would ever be a stable financial system in this country again.

Politicians the world over are there to be lobbied, and who’s to say a lobbyist would not persuade a finance minister to take away the banking licence of an institution that refuses to bank a particular client?

The threat alone would lead to a run on that bank, and as we

Who does the uncertainty really benefit? Certainly not the party

know, that can be a very ugly and expensive exercise for any government to deal with.

In writing this, I’ve tried for argument’s sake to ignore the obvious conclusion that some have come to, that Zwane’s suggested changes to the Reserve Bank’s mandate are driven largely by the blacklisting of one family by the country’s main banks.

But were the Reserve Bank to lose its licensing authority, or were a “captured” governor to be appointed to run the bank, would anyone be able to trust the banking system?

I can’t help but come to the conclusion that both Zwane and Duarte are really looking after the interests of a faction, while their “beloved” party burns.

And we are left consumed by uncertainty.