ANC’s silence on pro-Zuma protests ‘could be strategy’, says analyst

The ANC’s relative silence about the pro-Jacob Zuma violent protests could be a deliberate strategy by Luthuli House to expose the anarchic behaviour of his camp.

Political analyst Professor Barry Hanyane from North West University said: “I think this is deliberately done to expose the demons of the Zuma camp. They say ‘let’s give them a chance to expose themselves for who they are. It allows the [Cyril] Ramaphosa camp to know the enemy.

“This is a painful hour for the ANC that it had to go through. This moment needed to come but it brings public violence that needs to be contained sooner rather than later.”

Political analyst Ongama Mtimka said in trying to quell the violence, the state had to strike a balance between enforcing the law and protecting the protestors’ right to protest.

Mtimka said if the party decided to act boldly against wayward members, the short-term implications would be to weaken the party and even reduce its electoral performance to below 50%, opening the risk to lose power.

But the long term implications of firm action would be beneficial to its restoration and increased public confidence in the party.

“The short term instability is the price to pay if the ANC is to inculcate its lost moral values, but the instability is a correct process to build the party for the future,” Mtimka said.

Economists believe the current protests and violence would damage the economy and employers in the road freight industry hinted at job lay-offs due to the losses they made during the unrest.