Cape Town - The chaotic scenes and delays at the ANC’s elective conference this weekend make it quite easy to understand the sorry state our country finds itself in.
The party can barely get its house in order, as South Africans and the world have observed this weekend.
The scenes at the conference confirm, among other things, that the outgoing ANC national executive committee (NEC) has fallen far short in renewing and rebuilding the ANC as was mandated by the conference of 2017.
The visible factional divisions that are on full display at this gathering, which has been touted as a watershed moment for the party, suggest these are the last kicks of a dying horse.
To say the political report that President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered, while being occasionally heckled, was underwhelming would be an understatement.
Perhaps that was because of the fact that it’s hard listening to a president with a Phala Phala cloud hanging over his head talking about how to tackle corruption when, in fact, it has evidently become worse under his leadership.
To simply acknowledge that “the persistence of corruption within our ranks stands out as one of the greatest threats to the continued existence of our movement” does very little for a president who promised South Africans arrests – especially of those who are guilty within the party.
“The state capture commission makes critical findings about our democratic government, Parliament, public entities and about the ANC. Unless we act now with courage and honesty to redeem our organisation, we will have betrayed the ANC’s historical mission and failed our people.”
It’s rather a disingenuous statement when among those nominated for the positions of chairperson (Gwede Mantashe) and first deputy secretary-general (Nomvula Mokonyane) are beneficiaries of state capture-linked Bosasa.
While a new leadership will be elected to take over the party, one thing’s for sure: the ANC has not demonstrated itself to be a vehicle for social change in our country.
Ramaphosa is correct in describing this event as a “salutary moment for the ANC”.
This may be its last elective conference in power come 2024, but that does not seem to be unsettling for it, judging by how it conducts its business.
Cape Times