Parties give all their energy to the greasy pole of politics while the economy teeters

The political significance of last weekend’s ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting for President Cyril Ramaphosa cannot be overstated. If he went into the meeting as a weakened leader presiding over a divided party, he emerged from it with a strengthened hand, with only a few still doubting his authority over the former liberation movement. The much-anticipated rebellion against him did not materialise. Instead, the majority of the NEC members threw their full weight behind his attempt to root out corruption within the ranks by demanding that all those who are facing criminal charges of fraud and corruption should step down from public and party office.

Instead of a showdown between the president and some senior members of his NEC, there were marginal acts of rebellion by insignificant political actors such as Andile Lungisa, the controversial Nelson Mandela Bay councillor who has a conviction for assaulting a fellow councillor, and Carl Niehaus, who is now known more for practically being former president Jacob Zuma’s court jester.

When such stunts proved ineffective, all that Ramaphosa’s desperate detractors could do was to set Tony Yengeni and Zuma on him, hardly the most credible of generals to stage a challenge to the president’s authority.

But as much as last weekend’s meeting was a vote of confidence in the president’s leadership within his party — something that he needs if he is going to lead a stable government — and a potential boost for SA’s fight against corruption, it exposed one troubling weakness in our politics.

Much of the ANC’s three-day meeting was spent on discussions that were fuelled by the never-ending factional fights in the party. The subsequent press conference, hosted by Ramaphosa and other members of the top six, also focused almost exclusively on infighting, with many of the questions from our media fraternity being about the president, his relationship with Zuma, and the future of party secretary-general

Ace Magashule.

This is in the middle of the biggest economic crisis our country has faced. Unemployment had reached crisis proportions long before SA and the rest of the world were hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, which shut the economy down for several months. Since then, millions more have lost their jobs, and scores of small businesses, which are responsible for creating most of SA’s employment, are going under on a daily basis.

An economic recovery plan should be our country’s main priority right now. But if one were to judge purely by the ruling party’s leadership meeting last weekend and the subsequent briefing, it is hard to believe that the economy is even on the radar of our political elite.

In a nine-page statement following the NEC meeting, the ANC devoted hardly a page to economic recovery. Even then, it spoke only of being “encouraged” by the ongoing talks at the Nedlac forum between the government, business and labour, and promised “extraordinary measures” to “protect existing jobs”. No detail and certainly no indication of any sense of urgency. Just general statements. Any tangible plan of action? Oh yes: “The NEC will shortly convene a special lekgotla on the economic reconstruction and recovery programme.”

More depressing than this is the fact that the official opposition does not seem to be faring any better on this score. The DA is too absorbed in tribal battles of its own to craft a credible alternative plan of how to take SA out of the crisis.

Ramaphosa showed last week that, when challenged, he has what it takes to confront his political opponents head-on and win. He should use the momentum to drag the NEC and his government into a discussion about what needs to be done immediately to address the economic crisis and transform SA into a prosperous, modern economy.

NEC talks were fuelled by the neverending faction fights in the party