Mbeki further urged the KZN ANC to ensure there is genuine renewal within the party, rather than focusing solely on conferences.
Former ANC president Thabo Mbeki has commended the party’s provincial task team members for using its two-day political school to address real issues.
Mbeki addressed the Provincial Task Team Political School in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) on Saturday and urged members to position the ANC as a party that brings solutions to the masses.
“Do you remember the slogan that the movement used? A better life for all. What the ANC was about was ensuring that the people got a better life. That hasn’t changed. In terms of the focus of the real ANC, the real ANC will continue to say, ‘Our real task is to ensure a better life for our people’,” said Mbeki.
“Of course, in the meantime, there are many, many other people, as you know, who entered the ANC, and the ANC has spoken about this very openly, that once we became a governing party, we started attracting the wrong people. People were interested in membership in the party. Not to pursue the objectives of the movement, but for self-betterment and self-enrichment. And that’s a problem.”
However, the fact that the party has members who joined for their own self-enrichment should not detract from the ANC’s focus, which is to achieve a better life for all our people.
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“I’m very, very glad that we are being honest about the state of the province. That, as a movement, as an organisation, we recognise the fact that there’s a crisis. You can’t drop from where we were to this 17% and think that there’s no crisis. I’m very, very glad that the comrades recognised that, first of all, there is a serious problem.
“I’m very, very glad that we’ve come to that point. Because it means, as part of our political education, we want to address honestly the nature of our problems, honestly.”
Mbeki on ANC renewal
Mbeki said it was a positive change for ANC members not to spend their time singing and dancing, but instead to discuss matters and attempt to find solutions.
“I must also say, comrades, I’m very, very glad that for all of these hours that we’ve been here, we’ve only sung one song. I’m very, very glad. I’m told that our Chinese comrades say they’ve spent quite a bit of time with our movement over the years. And one of the things that puzzles them is, when does the ANC discuss policy? Because all the time it’s singing and dancing.
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“But I’m very, very glad there was only one song today, because we then spent all of the other time discussing the real problems.”
Mbeki further urged the KZN ANC to ensure there is genuine renewal within the party, rather than focusing solely on conferences.
“Isn’t there a relationship between renewal and conference? Because you can’t just say conference, conference, conference. Who are these people conferring with? So, you need to be able to say there’s a process of renewal that has taken place. It has produced this kind of member and this kind of cadre. Let them have a conference. Otherwise, you continue to put in positions of power people who should not even be in the ANC.”
The party called for lifestyle audits for its leaders in the province to expose and curb self-enrichment. This will help restore the party’s moral authority and reposition itself as a solution provider for the country’s problems.
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