ANC – under attack or self-imploding?

Christo van Niekerk writes:

As this year is dedicated to the honourable late ANC President Oliver Thambo, I, in departure to the background of the present political landscape of political chaos find it appropriate to quote the timeless wisdom and stern warning by this great freedom fighter and political giant in the history of the liberation of South Africa …

The late and former ANC President, Oliver Thambo, once said, “Beware the wedge driver. Watch his poisonous tongue.”

At the heart of the political organisation, lies its policies and procedures. Well written policies and procedures increase the organisational accountability and transparency and are fundamental to quality assurance and quality improvement programme development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and review – it is the very fibre of the political organisation’s future existence and to prevent, detect and manage decision and action approaches inconstant and counter-productive to the will of its members and civil society. The African National Congress is no different. It is the home of our people, of the fundamental rights of our country.

Let’s listen to the words of Comrade Oliver Thambo when he warns us not to be divided and not to partake in the strategies of division.

Many – over the full spectrum of civil society, opposition political organisations, individuals, civil groups – have been critical and judgmental of our organisation over the past year – of our President and our members. This attack on our very existence has been designed in such a fashion to continuously divide the ANC and political landscape and especially our members – it is focused to question that what we believe in. It is directed at our leadership structures – national, provincial, regional and even to our executive members on branch level.

It is driven to tell us how inefficient, unprofessional and backward our leadership is. The opposition scorecards our government ministers like schoolchildren, but yet they never issue a scorecard to themselves. The opposition never evaluates on how they deliver themselves.

In this confusion that is created, our opposition parties are also very careful to never attack the ANC Policy. Why The ANC policy is tried and tested. It remains the will of the people. It is the product of blood, sacrifice and unity. It is the very fibre that makes the ANC alive and the leader and to which they will never have an alternative.

In the ANC spirit and morality, a National Conference is never a meeting of elite that is held somewhere by leaders and later informed to branch level. No, it is the voices of branches that will sound at the conference through a well-structured consultation process in branches, inspecting the policies, debating them and finally task its representatives to the conference, to present it to the leadership.

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