ANC needs to split to survive, says analyst

The ANC has to officially split in order to survive, with the different strands that form its “broad church” nature going their separate ways, a top political analyst recommends.

The analyst, Prof Sipho Seepe, said there was no need for the ANC to continue to exist in its current form.

“The ANC mustn’t be afraid to let certain groupings within itself go. The ANC must have the courage to say to its partners ‘thank you for walking with us, but we realise we can no longer continue to work together, let us part ways’,” Seepe said.

Seepe’s view came as reports emerged about a plan to oust Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and replace him with Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

It is understood that a recent public survey, which indicated that Ramaphosa was the most popular of the eight party presidential hopefuls, followed by Dlamini-Zuma and Lindiwe Sisulu, put the Zuma camp in panic mode, prompting the plan to remove Ramaphosa.

Seepe said the ANC had reached a dead end and had to trim itself from a broad church organisation into a focused political party.

“The ANC has reached a political cul-de-sac where different strands are no longer manageable; where contradictions are so deep and have manifested themselves into tribalism; where some say there was a turn for the Xhosas and Zulus and now it should be a turn for the Vendas and other tribal groups,” Seepe said.

The only way that the ANC could save itself was to split, he insisted.

“Different formations must start walking their own ways,” he said.

Seepe said all relations that resulted in alliances were informed by context and prevailing conditions. Black people in general and Africans in particular were oppressed by colonialism and apartheid.

“Apartheid became the glue that bound us all together and the ANC exploited that commonality to defeat the system,” Seepe said.

“You can see the glue that kept them together has become unstuck.”