Cadres must strengthen the unity of the ANC and sharpen its ideological outlook

04 September 2016 - 02:02 By Vuso Shabalala
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Short-term opportunism has infected the ANC-led alliance, writes Vuso Shabalala

A strong performance by the DA under the leadership of Mmusi Maimane resulted in the ANC failing to secure an outright majority in the Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay metros.
A strong performance by the DA under the leadership of Mmusi Maimane resulted in the ANC failing to secure an outright majority in the Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay metros.
Image: IHSAAN HAFFEJEE

The conduct of all social actors before, during and after the local government elections has demonstrated that democracy has sunk deep and strong roots in the South African polity. All the parties generally observed the Electoral Code of Conduct and the response to the results indicates maturity.

The most significant outcome was the failure of the ANC to achieve an outright majority in Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane and Johannesburg, and the DA's retention of control of Cape Town.

Commentators - including those from within the ANC-led alliance - have described the results as a strong message of unhappiness with the party and its leaders.

The leadership of the ANC at national and provincial levels immediately met to analyse the election results.

Using an internal survey conducted shortly before the elections, the leadership noted that the three issues citizens were most unhappy about were unemployment, corruption and crime. When the question was applied to the ANC, the top issues were corruption, divisions and internal fights.

Let us keep these observations in mind while we briefly explore the performance of the main parties in the past four local government elections.

The national level of voter support for the ANC is double that of the DA. The party beat the DA by 14% and 6% in Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg respectively, and was 2% lower than the DA in Tshwane.

Two further observations are pertinent.

First, the ANC is and has been the governing party with outright majorities at national level since 1994, albeit the first administration being a government of national unity. It has held outright majority power in seven provinces since 1994.

The figures also show the ANC has been in control of most of the municipalities since the first democratic local government elections in 2000.

As government the ANC exercises stewardship over public resources, and citizens therefore have a right to demand that it combats public corruption effectively.

Second, although the ANC-led government is a major player in the economy, its role is restricted to government expenditure and policymaking. With regard to the former, it mostly contracts the private sector to supply goods and services. And this is where corruption rears its ugly head.

The macro-framework for public procurement is based on the constitution, the Public Finance Management Act, the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act, and Treasury regulations.

Robust debates within its ranks have always served to strengthen the unity of the ANC because they are about its historical mission and strategic direction

To combat abuse of the public procurement system, the ANC-led government has progressively strengthened the governance architecture such that most malfeasance is exposed and action taken against the offenders proactively.

The allegation that the ANC-led government is soft on corruption is less than accurate. The Public Administration Management Act, which, among other things, bans civil servants from doing business with government, is the latest legislative action to this end.

Although there is steady improvement in the historically fraught relations between government and business, this remains work in process.

And it is so because the historically white corporate sector is largely opposed to policies aimed at the redress of inequalities such as BEE, employment equity, land redistribution, labour rights, and localisation of the economy.

The efforts of government aim to find accommodation by way of social accords in precisely these areas to unlock the economic potential of the country.

It matters little which party wins the elections in this country - the historically skewed property relations shall remain an ever more pressing economic and political imperative.

Many commentators - some even from within the ANC-led alliance - argue that the election results indicate that the ANC has been rejected by its social base, which it has abandoned while it looks after itself and its benefactors.

We must acknowledge the high levels of frustration with the pace and scope of economic and social transformation in the country. The ANC must also acknowledge that we can do things better and conduct ourselves better. What is critical, however, is that we do so with sincerity rather than in pursuit of factional agendas.

It is in the nature of opposition to project your opponents in the worst possible light. It is also the vocation of opposition parties to sow maximum disunity and internal strife. Members and cadres of the ANC understand this and usually respond appropriately.

However, there are members of the ANC today who revel in praise by its opponents. That is perhaps the effect of the theory that after 20 years in power former liberation movements become weak and eventually lose political power.

The relatively poor election results emphasise the urgency of the matter. As members - and especially as leaders - of the ANC, we all need to be especially worried when we are cheered on by opponents of the national democratic revolution to devour one another.

This disease has unfortunately infected the alliance. Opponents of the ANC say that President Jacob Zuma wants to purge communists, and the communists who rub shoulders with him all the time start prevaricating about it. Opponents of the national democratic revolution scream in defence of National Treasury, and those who should know better join the chorus.

We will not resolve the challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment sooner by taking short-term views about positions at the top table.

The so-called Hawks-Gordhan saga is symptomatic of this short-termism. The South African Revenue Service "rogue" unit matter started in a lovers' tiff far from the Union Buildings. It meandered along for some time, during which the case was reported to the police, before Pravin Gordhan was appointed finance minister.

The president was well aware of the case when he appointed Gordhan.

Ordinarily the president is not required to reaffirm his confidence in a member of his cabinet. However, this time the good versus evil narrative being orchestrated pits him against his minister in a battle between those supposedly defending the interests of citizens and those captured by business interests. All kinds of opportunists climb on the bandwagon of defending a department of state against the head of state.

The internal calls for an early national conference must be assessed against this background.

In October last year the ANC held its mid-term national general council in Johannesburg to review its performance. In June the ANC will hold its policy conference and the recommendations that emerge from that conference will be adopted at the party's elective conference in December next year.

Robust debates within its ranks have always served to strengthen the unity of the ANC because they are about its historical mission and strategic direction.

The clarion call to all cadres is to strengthen the unity of the ANC and sharpen its ideological outlook. Fight off the neoliberal offensive against our people.

Shabalala is a political adviser to President Jacob Zuma

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