A little too late to talk ANC renewal

The ANC’s announcement, via its annual January 8th statement, that it intends to establish a commission to pursue its renewal is a great idea – but a little too late.

We should be concerned about a divided or dying ANC because its deterioration affects us as citizens as it has the mandate to be the custodian of our hard-won democracy.

Perhaps due to electoral euphoria at Nasrec in 2017 and the demands of state office, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa, much as he initiated the renewal project, neglected it.

His mind might have been preoccupied with other priorities while the new ANC leadership was grappling with factional battles within the party.

As far as the ANC divisions and factionalism are concerned, one can confidently say the horse has bolted.

Instead of subsiding, factionalism has deepened, particularly after the implementation of the “step-aside” rule.

It is unprecedented that a member like Carl Niehaus would call for a sitting ANC president to resign and for a Cabinet minister like Lindiwe Sisulu to undermine the country’s constitution.

It’s all about undermining the president.

The commission should have been announced at the beginning of Ramaphosa’s first term as ANC president, in 2018, while the divisions were raging.

His first January 8th statement was an ideal moment to announce the plan for a renewal commission – not now.

ALSO READ: SA making progress in resolving corruption – Ramaphosa

But Ramaphosa and the post-Nasrec NEC only woke up four years later, when they have to account to delegates at the next elective conference in December about the matter.

The ANC’s renewal project has failed, giving Thursday 10 13 January 2022 factionalism a chance to intensify.

Ramaphosa and the NEC should have taken the advice of the 101 ANC Veterans and Stalwarts, who volunteered to visit and interact with all party structures, from branches right up to the highest decision-making body between conferences, the NEC itself, and come up with solutions.

Considering their experience, memory and the respect they enjoyed among most members, they were well placed to deal with the problem, but they were ignored.

While the commission is yet to be established, it’s unlikely to resolve divisions and factionalism in time for the December national conference.

But it’s crucial that part of its report is ready for discussion at the June/July policy conference and its final report adopted in December.

But it’s clearly not a single year project as ANC problems are deep.

Renewal should not focus only on factionalism but on the ongoing deterioration, including ANC’s continuous electoral underperformance, discipline and its relation to state power in the light of the state capture report and rampant corruption.

An attempt to restore the party to its position as a so-called “glorious movement” will be difficult. Many people are benefitting from a divided ANC and its factionalism, which had become their means of political survival.

Some, including this columnist, suggested that another way of renewal was for the ANC to officially split – a Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change-styled separation.

Anarchists need to be released. Otherwise, if the ANC ignores all advice, it must accept it is heading for an imminent demise, or risks becoming a small minority party that will never taste power again.

ALSO READ: Four steps to stop corruption in SA