It is in the hands of us as ANC members to save the ANC from being abused as a stokvel

By Carl Mpangazitha Niehaus*

I am writing this article with a very heavy heart, because I hardly recognise the ANC that I joined 43 years ago, as a youngster of 19.

The ANC that I joined in July 1979 on a small koppie outside Gabarone in Botswana was certainly not perfect, but it had commitment to a set of progressive pro-poor ideological values, and a principled belief in the need to sacrifice for the sake of the liberation of black, especially African, South Africans.

In terms of material gains there were very little to gain from joining the ANC – in fact nothing. It was a banned liberation movement, and chances were that one could get killed by the apartheid regime, or at the very least arrested, detained in solitary confinement, tortured and sentenced for a long period of political imprisonment. To join the ANC and the liberation struggle was certainly not for the self-serving and faint-hearted.

Twenty eight years into our democratic rule, and of being the governing party, the exact opposite now seems to be true for many of those who join the ANC. Such is the ideological erosion and moral corrosiveness of power and patronage. Many of those who now join the ANC do so for their own self-serving aggrandisement and advancement. The operative question – the driving force – for now joining the ANC seems no longer to be, how can I serve? What sacrifice can I make? No! It is about what can I get? How can I fill my pockets? How can I eat? …

This is demonstrated by insidious corruption from so many individuals in the ANC, especially in the top leadership echelons, and reflected in the lack of service delivery in structures where the ANC is in control, from local government all the way up to the highest levels of national government.

It is a fact the fish rots from the head, and those at local government seem to be given the example and lead in this by those in national government, from the President and the National Executive (Cabinet). The wholesale massive looting of COVID-19 relief funds to the tune of billions of rands, and the Phala Phala farmgate criminal saga, being only some of the most prominent examples. However, almost in every municipality, no matter how small or big – whether in the metropoles or the remotest rural areas of our country – the terrible scourge of corruption and self-enrichment can be found.

As a loyal, and deeply concerned, member of the ANC I cannot be quiet about this. Not to call this out, and to bite one’s tongue and look the other way, is certainly not in the best interest of our beloved liberation movement, and it is in fact counter revolutionary.

Silence is complicity, and the most certain way to destroy the ANC. If it is our intention to reduce the ANC to a minority party in upcoming the 2024 national elections, the most certain way to achieve that is not to speak out about what is so glaringly and obviously wrong. None of this can any longer be covered up and denied, it is there for our whole nation to see, and it is experienced on a daily basis in how it negatively impacts on them and destroys their lives. No matter how much many in our nation love the ANC, and know the central role that the ANC played in our national liberation struggle, they are no longer prepared to tolerate this.

I fully concur with the incisive criticism of President Zuma, when he called Cyril Ramaphosa out for having referred to the ANC as “Accused Number One” in corruption. This was the self-serving argument of one of the most corrupt among us, who wanted to cover up his own corrupt rottenness with a public relations stunt, of trying to present himself as a corruption buster and an ‘angel’ in a den of thieves. If there was ever any doubt the Phala Phala farm saga revealed that Ramaphosa is an angel with horns, or even more correctly that he is Lucifer masquerading as angel Gabriel.

What I described above about the insidious corrosiveness of power and corruption that destroys the lives and hopes of South Africans, is not representative of the majority of ANC members. The vast majority of ANC members, and supporters, are good citizens and grassroots ANC branch members who are not the perpetrators of corruption, but actually the victims thereof. They suffer as much as anyone else under the corruption of unscrupulous individuals who in their relentless quest for wealth and self-enrichment worm themselves into leadership positions, and like the leeches that they are suck the very life out of our nation.

However, in this description of the situation that we as a nation find ourselves in – our sad, sick, national condition so to speak – I believe also is found the solution to our problem. Bad men and women thrive, when good men and women fail to stand up and speak out. Those who are corrupting our beloved African National Congress, and as a consequence also destroy the hopes of our whole nation, have only been able to do so, and will only be able to continue to do so, if the majority of ANC members allow them.

This article is a clarion call to the long-suffering loyal majority of ANC members, who have mainly suffered in silence, to no longer allow this to continue, but to have the courage of their convictions to stand up, to speak out, and to be counted.

If we as the majority of ANC members can stand up and say enough is enough, and that we will not tolerate this any longer, our beloved ANC can be saved, and our hopes for the true and full liberation of our nation can be restored.

However, if we fail, the ANC will inevitably collapse and be destroyed, and with that destruction our country will descend into a hopeless spiral of increasing poverty, inequality and the deepening exploitation of the black (mainly African) majority by the White Monopoly Capitalists, and a small coterie of black compradore capitalist enablers. Truly the hourglass is empty. If the ANC is to be saved, it must be saved now. Sekunjalo! The time is now. It is today – there is no tomorrow. This salvation of the ANC must start with the internal organisational structures and operations of the ANC. When I say this, the proverbial elephant in the room that must be called out is money. Yes, MONEY! There is an old saying that the root of all evil is money, but hackneyed as it is it is actually true, and sadly it is very true for the ANC.

The ANC Constitution explicitly forbids the use of money to influence the outcome of leadership elections and policy decisions. However, the indisputable fact is that in almost every Branch General Meeting (BGM), regional, provincial and national conference money plays an insidious role in the outcomes thereof. It comes in many different guises, food parcels, the gifts of all kinds, hotel accommodation, and of course hard cash. Disturbingly, brown envelopes are the order of the day! I dare anyone who knows about what happens organisationally within the ANC structures to deny, or dispute, that money has been flowing, and is continuing to flow, and has influenced, and is continuing to influence, almost every branch meeting and conference of the ANC during this conference year in the ANC. I am deliberately saying right now, because it is continuing to happen specifically in this current period that the ANC NEC has announced for branch membership to be renewed, branches to achieve the threshold to be in good standing, and Branch General Meetings (BGM’s) to be held. Those who want to deny this are either in pathetic denial, or are shame faced liars, probably because they are benefactors of such corrupt practices.

Leadership positions and whole executives are bought. The meetings and conferences of the ANC have the character of auctions with the highest bidders/bribers being able to purchase leadership positions. At stake is a lot of influence and power, and literally millions and billions of rands are involved. The more than one billion rand that was used by the CR17 campaign to buy the ANC Presidency and NEC of the ANC at the 54th National Conference in 2017, literally opened the flood gates. As I have said a fish rots from the head.

Sadly, big and small are in on this stokvel. Branch and regional secretaries are apparently even selling the access codes that branches are rightfully need to, in order to access the membership database to ensure that branches are in good standing. Branch members are bribed with food parcels and gifts such a blankets etc, to vote for certain delegates, and nominate specific candidates. To become a delegate to go to national conference has become a highly sought after position, because money is to be made.

The increasing levels of poverty and desperation of so many rank and file ANC members in the current economic melt-down is cynically exploited by ruthless manipulators and operators. The use and abuse of money is insidious and deeply corrosive to the organisational and ideological integrity of the ANC at every level.

I am convinced that this can be stopped. In fact it must be stopped, if the ANC is to survive. However, it is going to demand courage and integrity ANC members in all structures and all levels of our organisation; including also from those currently in leadership positions, and most importantly the grassroots ANC members in the most important structures of the ANC, which are the branches throughout the length and breadth of the country.

The following, to my mind, is the bare minimum that must be done:

The elitist idea in the ANC that there are a leadership ‘elite’ or ‘core’ who are somehow ordained to lead, and that leaders of the ANC can only be nominated from among those who see themselves as such, must be called out and brought to an end. This malice of ‘leadership elitism’ has a long history in the ANC, and it prevents new and younger leaders to emerge organisationally and organically from the broad ANC membership. It also breeds corruption because that leadership ‘elite’ sees the rank and file members of the ANC not as equals, but as lesser members who can be bought and manipulated to vote for them. In fact they do not even think of it as such, but rather as an affirmation of ‘our people’ (what are terrible patronising phrase!), of the leadership positions that they feel that they believe they are entitled to. This horrible approach of treating rank-and-file members of the ANC as ‘voting fodder’ must come to end! It underpins the corrupt practice of buying and owning branches and members.

Only the ANC members who are subjected to such demeaning, and patronising elitist attitudes, can bring an end to it, by refusing to allow themselves to be treated like this any longer. Once every-one of us stand up against this, we as individuals members and a collective will realise the immense power that we actually have, and will be able to use that power in order to gain control over the ANC, and regain it’s revolutionary heart and historical liberation task.

Consistency of conduct and policy positions by anyone who is available to be nominated and stand for election should be essential. Honestly, those who have five years ago travelled the country and shouted from election campaign stages “RET!” in support of the ANC’s official economic policy programme, and then afterwards fell silent and could not even get themselves to whisper “RET”, but now suddenly rediscovered their enthusiasm for Radical Economic Transformation, and want to run on an ‘RET ticket’ – simply because they realise that they need the votes of ANC members who have remained loyal to the policy in order to get elected – must not insult our intelligence. That is the personification of arrogant utilitarianism.

As proud ANC members we must not allow ourselves to be used and abused. As I have said: We are not voting fodder! Any candidate worth supporting must have a proven track record of policy consistency, and integrity, of having stood up against the manner in which Ramaphosa and the majority in the current ANC NEC sold out our revolution, and acted as the agents of WMC and imperialism. Flash in the pan so-called ‘radicalism’ for the cynical purpose of now garnering our votes should not be tolerated.

The membership of the ANC must be resolute in their principled commitment to root out corruption. Every single ANC member must make a vow to him or herself, and overall to the ANC as liberation movement, that no bribes whatsoever will be accepted, and that any person with leadership ambitions who tries to bribe, will also be not be accepted. In fact that such persons, in every instance where it happens, will be called out and named, shamed, and disciplinary steps taken.

Sophistry and utilitarianism must come to an end. There can be no spinning, and euphemisms about the hard truth: Corruption is corruption, and a bribe is a bribe. The credibility gap between what we say, and what we actually do must come to an end. We must walk the talk: Finish en klaar! Thus, we cannot justify the bribing of members and branches because Cyril Ramaphosa and his people have done so, and are continuing to do so. I fully agree that we must get rid of Ramaphosa and his bought acolytes on the current ANC NEC, but we cannot do so by also bribing and buying branches, delegates, and votes. If we want to remove Ramphosa and his Thuma Minions by also doing corruption it will be an empty pyrrhic victory, and the ANC will still be destroyed. I want us to be very clear: The end cannot justify the means. Personally I will not be part of any such, and no true revolutionary ANC member should allow him or herself to be dragged into such a lie, that will ultimately lead to defeat and the destruction of our beloved liberation movement.

It follows that every ANC member with ambitions to make him or herself available to be nominated for any leadership position, from the President, NEC members and all other elective positions, should declare unequivocally that they will not use a single cent to buy delegates and votes, and they must demonstrate/prove in practice that they are not doing so. I see that a number of comrades are raising their hands now that they want to be President, or stand for positions such as National Office Bearers (NOB’s) and NEC members. It is indeed very strange for them to do so even before the nomination period is announced, and actually it is contrary to ANC culture to literally nominate and promote themselves, instead of waiting to be nominated by the members and branches of the ANC. However, over and above this fact, an unequivocal public declaration should be made by anyone with leadership ambitions that he or she will not use money to bride or influence the nomination process, and election of leaders, in any manner whatsoever.

As for myself, I will only be able to support any presidential candidate who is prepared to do so, and who is prepared to be subjected to scrutiny that this in fact the case throughout the whole campaign period. Anyone who is not prepared to be subjected to such muster and scrutiny will not get my support, and should also not be supported by all the rest of the ANC membership. I am not saying this arrogantly, but it is my humble, firm, conviction that this position is essential for the salvation of the ANC.

I have been asked who do I support as presidential candidate. I do not think it appropriate to join the bandwagons of people who nominate and promote themselves. I will rather insist on the principles that I have set out above, and hope that ultimately a truly fit for purpose leadership collective will organisationally emerge, born out the commitment of the broad membership of the ANC to save our beloved liberation movement, and return it to its rightful position as the leader of society in order the implement the Second Phase of our National Democratic Revolution (NDR).

A LUTA CONTINUA!