Our View: The winds of change are blowing
Factionalism has always existed in organisations worldwide. It is not a new thing, but when it begins to destroy your support base, it means you have a serious issue on your hands.
The winds of change are blowing in the corridors of the provincial governance. We hope that with the forthcoming reshuffling, the enhancement of service delivery will be prioritised, rather than aligning close buddies.
The results of the local government elections served as a wake-up call for the ruling party. The fact that about 49 per cent of electorates abstained from casting their votes, should serve as a warning sign for the party to put its house in order with immediate effect. Many times I have heard that factionalism dealt the ANC a bitter blow in the run-up to elections, however, that is an internal matter that should have been resolved.
Factionalism has always existed in organisations worldwide. It is not a new thing, but when it begins to destroy your support base, it means you have a serious issue on your hands. The problem currently facing the party, is that many of its leaders are careerists who choose to keep quiet to protect their jobs and earnings power. Meanwhile, the organisation is crumbling by the minute.
Their deafening silence is not only destroying the organisation, but the country as a whole. This selfish tendency has led to job losses, and a decline in the economy. It has also resulted to the stalling of foreign investments, which is detrimental to the country’s growth in all quarters. Do these leaders ever feel the pinch that the ordinary person experiences due to their selfish attitudes?
During a four-day meeting to assess the national executive members performance, no drastic measures were taken to address these issues, instead they were cool about it. ANC veterans have spoken about the problems within the organisation, but no one is prepared to take their advice. Don’t the current leaders want to leave a legacy like their predecessors John Dube, Pixley ka Seme, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela?
Mpumalanga has continued to attain a sizeable number of votes in all the elections since 1994. This means that even if the ANC was marred by rivalry and confrontations from its own members, it was able to rise above the ashes and reconcile with its disgruntled members and tripartite alliance partners in time to campaign for the local government elections.
Seventy per cent was a reasonable result by far, but a lot still needs to be done to meet their intended 90 per cent. The time for serious work starts now. Think about the people, and bring about change now rather than later.
