ANC factional battles are deepening while its leadership is crumbling

Some ANC leaders are finishing off what is left of the party. The ANC Youth League has been destroyed and there is no hope for reviving it now, as everything is discussed along factional battle lines.

The danger of the ANC not going to its National General Council (NGC) has the potential of collapsing the upcoming national conference in 2022. The NGC will help the ANC deal with the internal factional battles it now faces. It is clear that the 2022 national conference will be a watershed. The 2007 Polokwane conference may appear as a walk in the park in comparison. It is clear that the battle lines are drawn and there is no renewal of the ANC taking place now. Renewal of the ANC is a mere slogan. 

On Thursday 8 October 2020, there was a march to Luthuli House under the banner of “Hands Off Ace Magashule”. On Friday 9 October there was another march led by some ANC members to the State Capture Commission and the Constitutional Court in defence of Jacob Zuma. The group wants Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to recuse himself from the inquiry, as they claim he is biased.

On Monday 12 October there was another march to Luthuli House by members of MKMVA, who are also members of the ANC, against Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula and the challenges facing Prasa over infrastructure that has been destroyed. We saw Mbalula insulting some members of the ANC on Twitter.

No one in a political organisation enjoys setting up marches against their own organisation or members. One would think that marches have become a hobby in the ANC. Busing people for a march is costly. You have to pay for transportation, food, airtime and there are preparation meetings to check that everything is logistically in order. The money used for all these marches could have been used for the salaries of ANC staff members who have recently not been paid on time. 

If ANC leaders loved the party and people of South Africa, they would start a discussion around the call made by the ANC 101 Veterans and Stalwarts to have a consultative conference.

The party leadership is not helping the situation. It seems to be making things worse. The NEC has been divided since its members were elected and we can see daily how deep the factional battles run. The RET forces even have a logo — this shows how well organised it is.

The biggest problem with the ANC leadership is that its members continue to point fingers at one another, without reflection on how they are destroying the glorious movement. 

The ANC lost three metros in Gauteng and one in the Eastern Cape in 2016 and also declined in the 2019 general elections, but this seems not to have given the party leadership a wake-up call that some South Africans are fed up — and that they no longer see it as a political party that liberated them.

The ANC made a mistake after 1994 when it stopped being a liberation movement and became a political party. Political parties by their nature focus on numbers. This is why at a later stage the ANC’s focus was on recruiting 1 million members.

The ANC is today reduced to being an organisation of those who see jobs and tenders as more important than serving the people of South Africa. Most South Africans are still living in poverty and they are not liberated. The 1 million membership drive has destroyed the ANC as a lot of people joined the party for the wrong reasons.

The ANC’s motto is that the ANC lives, ANC leads. Yes, the ANC lives, but does it still lead?

Let me quote Oliver Tambo:

“Comrades, you might think that it is very difficult to wage a liberation struggle. Wait until you are in power. I might be dead by then. At that stage, you will realise that it is actually more difficult to keep the power than to wage a liberation war. People will be expecting a lot of services from you. You will have to satisfy the various demands of the masses of our people. In the process, be prepared to learn from other people’s revolutions. Learn from the enemy also. The enemy is not necessarily doing everything wrongly. You may take his right tactics and use them to your advantage. At the same time, avoid repeating the enemy’s mistakes.” – Oliver Reginald Tambo (Angola, 1977).

Some ANC leaders and members have a tendency of quoting Tambo, but not living by his teachings. His quotes are merely slogans for some in the ANC. The day the ANC loses national elections is the day its leaders and members will remember his teachings.

The upcoming local elections will not be easy for the ANC, at the rate things are going. Some members will even boycott elections as we know that the ANC list process is also a way of deploying foot soldiers for any faction in the ANC, as the factions consolidate power going to the ANC 2022 national conference.

At the rate things are going, there is no hope for the ANC. The leadership is on a mission to kill what is left of the organisation, once a glorious movement and beacon of hope for the people of South Africa. DM