[ The ANC now signifies dishonourable conduct. It is habituated to
preying on the poor, manifested in defrauding funds intended for the
needs of the impoverished majority. It may now be a case of needing to
say, ‘good riddance’ or ‘your time is up’.]
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ANC CRISIS MAY FORESHADOW ITS DEMISE  
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Raymond Suttner
November 21, 2022
Daily Maverick
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_ The ANC now signifies dishonourable conduct. It is habituated to
preying on the poor, manifested in defrauding funds intended for the
needs of the impoverished majority. It may now be a case of needing to
say, ‘good riddance’ or ‘your time is up’. _

A defaced ANC election poster in Alexandra township, Johannesburg,
South Africa, 7 May 2019., Kim Ludbrook / EPA-EFE // Daily Maverick

 

There is little doubt that the ANC is on the way down and we will see
its gradual demise. It is not something I would have predicted some
time back, though previously referring to it being physically alive
but being a dead person walking. Its overall survival may now be
questionable. (See also the assessment of Brutus Malada
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the vulnerability of the ANC in Gauteng).

I could not imagine 15 to 20 years ago that the ANC may simply
disappear from this Earth or live on as a shadow of its former self
like the erstwhile liberation movements, the Convention People’s
Party (CPP) in Ghana, the Kenya African National Union (Kanu) in Kenya
and the United National Independence Party (Unip) in Zambia.

In voicing similar sentiments relating to the ANC’s fall in the
past, I used to say “it gives me no pleasure to say this”. That
was because I devoted much of my life to the ANC and it was still part
of me. But that is no longer the case, given its proclivities towards
criminality and abuse and general indifference to the increasing
suffering of the still-oppressed people of South Africa. This is not
suffering from unknown causes, but damage primarily inflicted by ANC
governments during the Jacob Zuma period and afterwards.
 

So much harm has been done and continues to be done by the ANC and
there is no sign of serious attempts to remedy these characteristics
(not merely errors or shortcomings). It may be a case of needing to
say, “good riddance” or “your time is up”.

The death of a party can happen very quickly. If the ANC were to lose
control of the levers of state and other vehicles for patronage, it
may not hold together, not having a shared political consciousness to
evoke enduring loyalty. Its leaders and followers could desert and
move in more than one direction.

CRIMINALITY NOT THE PRESERVE OF CONVENTIONAL CRIMINALS ONLY

The notion of who comprises the category known as criminals has been
reconfigured under ANC leadership. Criminality is no longer an
isolated activity of a criminal class who break into houses, steal
cars, commit assaults or murders, even if we know that many gangsters
are in a tightly knit partnership with police in the Western Cape. It
is now part of being in the political class or leadership that one
then has opportunities to steal and commit a range of other crimes
(and this is not restricted to the ANC, although other parties have
had less access to the levers of power).

It is part of the expected accoutrements of holding office today that
the often very high salaries can be augmented and powers used to also
benefit others to whom politicians may be indebted for their rise or
other reasons unrelated to their duties as office bearers.

What is evident is that we are dealing with a category of people who
see stealing as one of the expectations of office. This has become a
norm within the ANC and the state, where conventional standards have
been reversed and “wrong is right”. Illegality has displaced legal
compliance as the prevailing norm in much of political life and state
functioning.

Not all do it, for there remain within the ANC some who still try and
change the organisation from within, to reverse the trend. They are
not there for enrichment but to do their best to turn things around.
Despite their honest intentions, it is too late to win that battle.

The organisation cannot be rehabilitated now. There is no sign of
criminality abating nor serious steps against leaders, apart from Ace
Magashule and a handful of others who have been implicated in corrupt
activities.

COMPETITION FOR OFFICE

Political criminality is focused on wealth and that drives competition
for office. That competition for office is no longer a result of
displaying qualities derived from working in branches and communities.
There is little left of the practices of the past where a delegation
would visit a seasoned comrade to prevail on him or her to be
available for election or veterans would identify young cadres —
because of exemplary qualities — as potential leaders needing to be
nurtured.

The competition, which exists at every level, is often dealt with in
gangster-style with assassins paid by some municipal authorities (at
least, for we do not know more). Former president Thabo Mbeki has
presented evidence
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these _izinkabi_ (hitmen) are on the payrolls of some
municipalities.

CANDIDATES TO DO WHAT?

It is well known that there is a crisis among the youth with high
unemployment — even among those with degrees — limited
recreational facilities, and no sense of future life being better than
the present. Becoming a councillor may mean the difference between
survival and hunger, but also potentially opening up possibilities for
receiving and dispensing patronage.

In this context, some young ANC ministers have depicted the problems
of the youth as reducible to the need for a generational mix in the
ANC leadership. Some have unabashedly volunteered themselves for high
office, often with very little knowledge of ANC history or analysis of
the present.

Paradoxically they have understood correctly that the depth and
grounding of leaders like Walter Sisulu are no longer part of the
requirement to be a leader. It does not appear to be needed in the
“ANC of renewal”, renewal being the invisible/absent quality that
is supposed to mark the “new dawn” and is the name of Cyril
Ramaphosa’s campaign for re-election #Renew2022.

Gone are the days when young people, even without holding any
position, could articulate the policies of the organisation and
explain its history and debate its future.

ANC’S PREDILECTION TO PREY ON THE POOR AND MARGINALISED

It is astonishing what the ANC has come to represent compared with
what it used to signify only 15 years ago. The colours green, gold and
black were associated with sacrifice and embracing the pain of the
poor as their own, often at high cost. This led to the organisation
being trusted and loved and very many people felt the ANC
“belonged” to them.

The ANC’s army, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), likewise was seen as a
defender of the vulnerable against apartheid attacks. That is why many
MK attacks were on symbols of oppression. One of the first post-1976
attacks on police was on the Soekmekaar police station, notorious for
its role in forced removals. (Interview Petros “Shoes” Mashigo,
Pretoria, December 2003, who was sentenced to death, though it was
commuted).

When MK attacked an apartheid police station it evoked pride and
excitement for a people who were not supposed to bear arms, let alone
use these to attack citadels of apartheid violence. It spurred others
to fight for their freedom. As the Struggle developed, everything with
which the ANC and MK was identified related in the eyes of many to
their freedom.

But there were also wrong targets, including the killing by MK of Ben
Langa [[link removed]], a
member of a famous Struggle family (brothers Pius, who became Chief
Justice, Mandla, a noted novelist and Bheki, a senior diplomat). He
had been identified as having betrayed comrades. According to the ANC,
after further investigation, the information leading to the
assassination was found to have been derived from a government agent
who had infiltrated MK.

The ANC now signifies dishonourable conduct. It is now habituated to
preying on the poor, manifested in defrauding funds intended for the
needs of the impoverished majority. Nkandla was just a foretaste of
what would be manifested by those supposedly breaking with the Zuma
era.

RECYCLING OF LEADERS INTO HIGHLY PAID JOBS

Even if one is a known non-performer as a minister, that does not mean
that one will be removed from Cabinet. And if removed from Cabinet
there is a business-like process of securing continual high earnings
for these individuals as ambassadors or CEOs of various state entities
or lucrative work as chairs of boards or investigations.

It is instructive to look at the list of South African representatives
abroad. Many have been out there for decades and shifted from one
position to another. It is a well-paid job since all expenses are
covered in the host country and ambassadors receive a big allowance,
especially in certain key posts.

Again, this is not to suggest that every ambassador is a passenger or
dead wood. There are some who do their work with dedication and bring
credit to the country.

IS THE DOWNWARD PLUNGE IRREVERSIBLE?

As Chris Mahkaye wrote in _Daily Maverick_
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“unlike political parties in other democracies around the world, the
leadership of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) will not have
a public debate during which contenders will tell members of the
public what they will do once they assume positions.

“Instead, regional barons, provincial leaders and other powerbrokers
meet behind the scenes, haggle over positions and come up with a
leadership collective that would serve their interests before serving
those of the public.”  

If the ANC was able to reinvoke the excitement it once created by its
clarity and depth of vision and was able to return to demonstrating
dedication to the masses, the trend could be reversed. But it is too
late for that. The ANC of today is devoted to other matters and
insofar as it may come up with one or two ideas, these would not be
developed for the good of the country and its people, but to avert
electoral defeat.

If the ANC and no other political party is ready to rescue our
democratic life, that future depends on the people, who need to unite
across sectoral and class and gender and faith barriers to save the
country from the ANC and for ourselves. 

_[RAYMOND SUTTNER is an emeritus professor at the University of South
Africa. He served lengthy periods in prison and house arrest for
underground and public anti-apartheid activities. His writings cover
contemporary politics, history and social questions, especially issues
relating to identities, violence, gender and sexualities. His Twitter
handle is @raymondsuttner]_

_This article first appeared on Creamer Media’s polity.org.za
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