Tackling corruption threatens the very existence of the ANC,

writes Barney Mthombothi

An impish wag remarked the other day that President Cyril Ramaphosa addressing his letter on corruption to a comrade could mean only that he was isolated in the ANC: he had one supporter. It’s a cheap jibe, obviously. Ramaphosa often addresses his newsletters to “my fellow South African”. It is an attempt at intimacy or some sort of rapport. The reader must be left with the impression that the president is speaking directly to him, and to him alone.

But such cynicism is well founded. There’s justifiable weariness — and anger — at leaders sounding off about corruption without doing anything to stem it. Even Jacob Zuma would speak eloquently about combating the scourge even as he and his cronies were robbing the country blind.

The problem with Ramaphosa’s letter is that it’s too long. Comrades chasing lucrative tenders won’t have the time or the patience to cast an eye over it. No reasonable person will disagree with the sentiments. But will it fly?

Ramaphosa unleashes a torrent of clichés: lines in the sand, deeds to match words among them. He’s boxing himself into a corner. It’s a mammoth task and he’ll lose any credibility left should he fail to deliver. I suppose in the future, when the question is asked what the president did to deal with rampant corruption, the response can be: he wrote a letter.

Ramaphosa also referred to the Nasrec conference, which committed the ANC to rooting out “corrupt tendencies in the public and private sectors”. But it is the same conference that elected Ace Magashule and David Mabuza to leadership positions. If the letter and spirit of that resolution was adhered to, such individuals should have been disqualified. The current NEC, meeting this weekend, probably has more compromised members than any before it; more than even the one under Zuma, which is saying something. A party with Magashule at the helm cannot even begin to talk about tackling corruption and expect to be taken seriously. He’s the embodiment of the scourge. A fish, after all, rots from the head down.

The ANC has long ago ceased to be a unified entity speaking with one voice. Its competing factions desperately hold on to the udder of the state for succour. It’s that corrupt dependence on state resources that keeps the factions hanging together. Ramaphosa is already regarded by some as merely a leader of one of the factions and his attempt to deal with corruption is viewed as nothing but a veneer to settle scores.

Richard Nixon could go to China, and Menachem Begin could make peace with Egypt. Those were momentous events unlike anything we’re dealing with here, but the point is, it takes a leader with a strong constituency behind them to take those sorts of actions that seem to defy or threaten their interests without losing that support. To a lesser extent Nelson Mandela did that when he retained the Springbok emblem for rugby and incorporated Die Stem in the national anthem, against the wishes of his supporters. Ramaphosa doesn’t have that sort of cachet.

For some clues he could look at the road taken by Mikhail Gorbachev and FW de Klerk. Both took decisive steps to save their countries, but in the process destroyed their parties and their own careers. De Klerk, for instance, succeeded where PW Botha failed because he had more credibility with a significant section of his party.

Tackling corruption threatens the very existence of the ANC. Corruption has become almost synonymous with the values and culture in the ANC, so it would be nigh impossible to deal it a deadly blow without hollowing out the organisation. For the fight against corruption to succeed, the ANC as we know it will have to die. It will certainly mean losing power and being cast into the wilderness where it would have to rethink its mission.

Ramaphosa came to power on an anti-corruption ticket, but many in the party see him as a kettle calling a pot black. And his credibility has been undermined somewhat by people closest to him. That little halo around his head was knocked askew early on when Mmusi Maimane waylaid him in parliament with questions about money paid to his son by Bosasa. He claimed his son had a valid contract to do work for Bosasa and promised to frogmarch him to the nearest police station himself should there be any wrongdoing. The public protector’s finding that he had misled parliament was later set aside by the high court. But the damage had already been done. Even more damaging was the leaking of word of huge amounts paid by his campaign to buy votes in the lead-up to the Nasrec conference. That has left a bitter taste in the mouth.

Ramaphosa has expressed outrage at widespread corruption involving Covid-19 funds. And then it turned out that the husband of his spokesperson, Khusela Diko, was implicated. But instead of suspending or firing her, Diko was given leave of absence. That sent a wrong message. The speed with which the money was finagled has certainly been astounding. It suggests that people had inside information and therefore were ready and waiting. Ramaphosa’s announcement of the R500bn relief fund was like the firing of the starting gun that sent the horses galloping for the loot.

Now that Ramaphosa has put down his marker, Magashule and other delinquents should surely go. Otherwise his words will ring hollow. At which point his presidency would be doomed.