Ace of Spades: digging the grave of a once proud and dignified ANC

On September 20 2008, after a decision of the ANC national executive committee, Thabo Mbeki, in a dignified and stately manner, resigned as president of the republic. He could so easily have precipitated an unprecedented political and constitutional crisis by simply refusing to resign.

This would have occasioned the need for the ANC caucus to sponsor a motion of no-confidence in the president. There is a good chance the motion would have failed, and Mbeki would have seen through the end of his term, but the consequences for the party and our maturing constitutional democracy would have been devastating.

He sought not to protect his name, his presidency or his reputation. Instead, Mbeki chose to put the country, its interests and those of the ANC first and resign amid a decision that bore all the hallmarks of a political purge.

The departure of Mbeki, first as ANC president and subsequently as president of the republic, is arguably the point of the most phenomenal decline in the ANC. It has increasingly become its own worst enemy and has lost much of its liberation movement credentials and connection with the people. It must do all it can to stem the steady decline of political morality within itself, and specifically among its leadership.

The step aside clause was adopted at the 2017 National Conference as part of a suite of resolutions to renew and rebuild the ANC, and rid it of the fraud and corruption that has eaten away at its core values and commitment to service like an unrelenting cancer.

Yet, the ANC is also having to contend with ideological stagnation, fuelled by a healthy dose of populist rhetoric, much of which is conjured around the notion that the step aside clause is a plot fostered by “white monopoly capital” through its high priest, Johann Rupert — who has seemingly “captured” the president and by extension the state and ANC he leads.

Irrespective of where one chooses to sit on this divide, there are a set of uncontestable realities of contemporary SA, that economic emancipation remains for the vast majority stubbornly elusive.

That the race question continues to be the defining feature of life in SA, is a product of a political economy in which black people although the majority are confined to the periphery, spatially and economically, in sharp contrast to their fellow white citizens.

So, is the now infamous step aside clause a tool of factional politics in the ANC, or is it a genuine effort to stem the “fraud and corruption” within the ANC, as a precursor to reasserting its historic mission of being an instrument for genuine, sustainable socio-economic transformation and nation-building to heal the gushing wounds of our ugly past?

The departure of Thabo Mbeki, first as ANC president and subsequently as president of the republic, is arguably the point of the most phenomenal decline in the ANC.

Fast forward to 2021, and the secretary-general of the ANC, charged with fraud and corruption (not of white monopoly capital but of the people of the province he led), opts to defy the decision of the ANC NEC on the step aside clause. Having not been able to mount a cogent political argument to negate the step aside, the now suspended SG has defaulted to demanding the same cloak of protection offered by our jurisprudence to an accused. The presumption of innocence until proven otherwise. Fair enough. However, the step aside resolution is of course not a legal process; it is a political consideration.

Stepping aside is by no means an acceptance of guilt. It is a political judgment that says your standing as a person who has been indicted on serious charges is bringing the good name of the ANC into disrepute. To shield the ANC and its political interests from the radiation of your criminal case, step aside. If you are cleared, you will resume your responsibilities in the ANC and government.

Then there is the “what if” defence: “What if I am found not guilty?” Well, whether you are guilty or not, you hold no entitlement to any position in the ANC or government. Especially not a position in which you directly represent the ANC and not when your continued occupation of the position detracts from the ANC’s political standing.

There has also been the clamouring that anyone accused of corruption should step aside, and the insistence that in implementing the step aside resolution, the laws of the republic should be respected. When the National Prosecuting Authority indicts, it does so having established a “prima facie” case. It is confident that there is sufficient basis to bring an accused to trial and that there are reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution. This is significantly different from someone who has simply been accused of “being corrupt” or engaging in maleficence. To equate the two is to call a splash a tsunami.

Respecting the law of the republic would therefore require a criminal case to be opened.

Alas, the action of the suspended secretary-general smacks of individualism. It is in so many ways a metaphor for the sense of brazen self-interest that has come to characterise many ANC leaders. A leadership style at odds with the traditions and value system of the party.

It is the sort of leadership, or lack thereof, that says “if I go down, I’ll take everyone with me”. It is the kind of leadership that reflects everything that’s wrong with the ANC at present. It is the kind of leadership that is devoid of anything moral or ethical. It is the kind of leadership that continues to detract from the high-standing, credibility and respect the ANC was proudly an embodiment of. It is the kind of leadership that Oliver Reginald Tambo cautioned would cause the implosion of the ANC. The ANC deserves better. SA deserves better. 

* Subesh Pillay is a Sunday Times reader who shared his thoughts with us. If you want to submit an opinion piece for possible publication, e-mail it to GroblerF@sundaytimes.co.za

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