Work now needs to be done in branches
ANC provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane sent a brilliant message to thank all people who cast their votes for the ANC in the Eastern Cape municipalities. However at this time the ANC branches need to revive their subcommittees to respond to the call to develop a clear mechanism for political education for the masses.
Also we need to come up with responsibilities that will keep the branch chairpersons and secretaries accountable to the general membership at all times. We need to build the capacity to form a solid base for the ANC to play vanguard and oversight roles that will effectively discuss the content of government programmes rather than being the champions of revolutionary-sounding slogans that cannot be substantiated with content.
The ANC has to take care of its membership and leadership in pursuing the important task of settling political scores. These leaders also should not turn a blind eye to the arrogance and pride tendencies that gradually destroy the ability and the strength of this glorious movement.
Our leadership needs to invest more resources in the building of human capital within branches. These programmes must not only focus on the branch executive committees, but also on the general membership.
Therefore the national leadership has a responsibility of ensuring that branches of the ANC are empowered to discharge the complex task of leading societies that they operate in and entrenching the ANC’s influence on these societies.
Let me borrow words of wisdom from Tata Nelson Mandela, “This is a lesson for all of us to live our lives: that the ways in which we will achieve our goals are bound by context, changing with circumstances even while remaining steadfast in our commitment to our vision.”
Furthermore we can’t accept or allow the gains of our freedom that our heroes and heroines have died for to be swiftly taken away from us because of one man.
The ANC should take a position to call a special national general council to deal with all critical matters affecting the organisation before it is too late. We should avoid the tendency of all liberation movement after 20 years of democracy to turn out to be opposition parties.
I strongly think the coalition of the parties against the ANC will have a shortfall, because of different ideologies.