The African National Congress (ANC), which is the oldest liberation movement on the continent and one that gave birth and inspired many anti-colonial struggles in Africa, is set to die a slow and painful death unless a miracle happens to save it from itself.
I am saying this because there is no denying that the ANC, as a political party from a post-liberation movement, is in a serious crisis and in the intensive care unit, fighting for its life.
The speakers of IsiZulu language would tell you that uCongolosi sekabangwa nezibi or kuyembulwa kuyembeswa or more so sekubonwa ngokusa (loosely translated, ‘At death’s door’) and when they say that, you must know it’s pretty bad for a sickly person.
And so it is for the ANC, and one wonders whether this idolised organisation, which was the envy of the world, will survive the current storms and winds of change sweeping through its ranks and threatening to tear it into shreds, if not blow it away.
The only way this organisation can be saved from self-destruction come the 2019 general elections, is by getting rid of corrupt people and old and tired leaders.
I take my hat off to Jackson Mthembu for having the guts, which is in high demand and unfortunately hard to come by today, for asking his fellow NEC comrades to do the honourable thing and resign en masse. But those, whose bread of corruption is buttered by those currently at the helm of both the party and government, were quick to point out the obvious, calling on Mthembu to set the example himself.
They deliberately did not want to understand and appreciate that he was calling on all of them, himself included, to hand in a collective and simultaneous resignation letter and go, so that no one remains behind, thereby paving the way for a fresh start.
President Jacob Zuma reacted by calling on his disgruntled comrades to emulate the selfless lifestyle and leadership of the late struggle stalwart, Oliver Tambo. But the first person who should emulate Tambo and lead by example is Zuma himself.
Tambo never had 783 corruption cases hanging over his head. He was a servant of the movement and masses.
People are calling on us to respect sitting leaders and presidents, but I say respect is two-way traffic. You give and take.
What has Zuma done to earn our respect? I feel that the President has no apparent transformational agenda at all. If he has, as claimed by his praise singers in the form of the Black First Land First movement, let Zuma put those on the table for national discourse.
Zuma, in my opinion, is nothing but window dressing at the Union Buildings and he has no clear programme to take this country forward and transform the embedded apartheid institutions and tendencies in the economy, education, workplace, the farms and business opportunities for Africans.
