ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe addresses the media after the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting discussing a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma on November 29, 2016 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mantashe announced that the NEC did not support the call for President Zuma to resign. (Photo by Gallo Images / Daily Sun / Jabu Kumalo).
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe told delegates at the party’s provincial policy conference in Gauteng on Friday that buzzphrases like “white monopoly capital” and how they have been used are not in line with ANC policy and history.
Such ideas are in danger of being merely populist and convenient, instead of in line with principle.
He said on Friday that linking this with “radical economic transformation” would not be a quick fix to problems, despite the fact that even President Jacob Zuma has used this as a rallying cry.
“The ANC has never been an anti-white movement. The ANC has always been against white domination. That is what the ANC is all about.”
He warned comrades against expressing themselves as “being angry and hating whites, it catches the fire … it sounds nice, it sounds revolutionary … it sounds ‘left’. But it is reactionary.”
Mantashe also warned them not to push for President Zuma’s early removal, saying this would not fix the ANC’s problems. “I know that saying this may not be popular in Gauteng. It’s a myth, comrades.” He explained that his view was that if the movement could be rebuilt, it would self-correct.