Dirty-dealing ANC must #Voetsek

The ANC was “touched on its studio” yesterday in a way that an organisation with such thick-skinned cadres seldom is – as it became apparent that the tsunami of outrage around the latest episode of alleged corruption on personal protective equipment (PPE) tenders was not going to go away.

Its attempt at an all-out image offensive on social media, with the hashtag #ANCFriday, looked to have done more harm than good as the ANC’s own slogan was quickly overtaken by the hashtag, #Voetsek ANC.

It didn’t help that party national spokesman Jackson Mthembu also lashed out at critics, calling them “thugs” and “insulters” while, ironically, at the same time extending “sincere apologies” for “where we have dropped the ball” and promising to “make amends”.

The penny is dropping for the ANC that the citizens of South Africa are under no illusions: the people stealing in this country wear the black, green and gold of the ruling party.

While this has been known for most of the 26 years the ANC has been in charge, the latest PPE scandals have showed up how blatant it is – and how cynical and heartless, given that this is money which is meant to be spent efficiently providing protection for those in the front line of the fight against Covid-19.

Health workers are already complaining, as Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize admitted yesterday, that they are not getting equipment and that what they get is often not fit for purpose. Mkhize noted that corruption and inefficiency, as well as profiteering, were to blame.

Sadly, we are sure that people have died because of this dirty dealing.

One can only hope that this “second arms deal” scandal will help the ANC realise that its role is to serve the people … not vice versa.

But, sadly, we won’t be holding our breath on that.