Laying into ANC with sharpened blade

A dormant ruling party structure under dominance of a faction to whom leadership has been outsourced – coupled with the state of paralysis of the African National Congress (ANC) in Limpopo – resemble factors that are cause for concern to the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the province.
Digging into the soul of the beast, SACP Provincial Secretary Gilbert Kganyago provided an analysis of the positioning of the ruling party within the political landscape in Limpopo. Speaking to Polokwane Observer in an exclusive interview, he singled out sporadic community unrest, issues relating to the schooling system and an almost non-existent alliance as pointers of the ANC in Limpopo not being in good health. He referred to the last joint meeting of alliance partners having been held in September last year.
He pointed at plans of the SACP to approach various other players, such as alliance partner Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the mass democratic movement and the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) to discuss the revitalisation of the health of the ruling party in the province.
In the same vein he referred to the January 8 provincial celebrations where the SACP in Limpopo was given a two-minute slot on the programme for delivering a message of support, which they considered humiliating to their party leadership.
They intended raising the matter at the right time, he said. “We’ve seen self-serving leaders come and go, never focusing on developmental issues of unemployment, poverty and inequality.” He simultaneously expressed the hope that Mathabatha would step up his visibility.
He emphasised the need for hands-on leadership both in the ANC and in government. He continued saying that the same problems the Mathale government was disbanded for were presenting themselves or becoming worse. Kganyago made it clear that the SACP in Limpopo would want to see the issues of the working class addressed, unity was being built and the ANC contributing to the development agenda. They would further want to see an ANC that works and takes the alliance seriously.
Kganyago expressed the opinion that it would be unfair to reduce the issue to one individual, being ANC Chairperson and Premier Stan Mathabatha, as it was a collective problem. “If he is unable to be decisive as prime leader of the collective, then that is something else.”
He stressed that leadership should not be outsourced to a faction to run the organisation on behalf of party leadership. He expressed the opinion that the faction of ANC Provincial Treasurer Danny Msiza was wreaking havoc in the party and, to an extent, also in government.
Kganyago referred to the last congress of the ANC in the province as a marriage of factions and said when the party wanted to create unity they shouldn’t look at blending opposing factions but at real cadres who understood the significance of principled unity that advanced objectives, programmes of the organisation and putting the people at the centre of their pre-occupation. What was required was not the type of unity that brought together people with similar business ambitions to advance wealth accumulation, he said. As time progressed greed would always be the prominent enemy and it became the point of rupture, he remarked.
A few months post the national elections sentiments of marginalisation and instability were being aired, but according to Kganyago it was now a fact and anybody denying that was either not in charge of the organisation or part of the problem.
Turning to the ANC’s provincial elective conference planned for a year from now, Kganyago was of the opinion that complete change was necessary. He shared the thought that the duo punted to take the positions of party provincial chairperson secretary – that of Msiza and Soviet Lekganyane – would put the ANC on a danger trail. According to Kganyago neither of the two knows what unity is and “they can only emerge if they throw money around”. But as time approached it would be for the ANC’s branches to decide, he pointed out in conclusion.

Story: YOLANDE NEL
>>observer.yolande@gmail.com