ANC must accept reality and repair or risk being Africa’s worst basket case

If the ANC were a patient in the emergency room in a hospital drama, the defibrillator machine would probably not be enough to jump-start it back to life – and not because, being South Africa, there would probably be no electricity available to charge it up.

As an organisation committed to democracy, human rights, and to building the fabled “better life for all”, the ANC has long since flatlined.

Currently, there is a quiet, but frantic move in the organisation to clean up, get rid of the deadwood, and “renew” the party.

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And, former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe have been crisscrossing the country in a last-ditch effort to rebuild party unity ahead of the December national elective conference. African Peer Review Mechanism chief executive professor Eddie Maloka’s paper titled “Notes on the Renewal of the ANC”, has rocked back many ANC cadres on their heels.

Painting a picture of a party which has lost touch with its members and societal aspirations, Maloka said the ANC was plagued by factionalism with corruption having played a major role in bringing it to its current state.

He also blamed the ANC status quo on the party having abandoned its 1994 project of establishing people’s power – “ending up with elite power, instead”.

“We now believe that you don’t have to be technically competent to be a leader in the ANC or in the state. All you need is to be a party operator, with control over a sizeable number of branches.”

Coming from the inner circle within the ANC, Maloka’s assessment is sobering. We hope his assessment gives the organisation pause for thought.

It needs to admit honestly, to itself and the people of South Africa, that it has lost its way. And it needs to repair itself – or risk this country becoming Africa’s worst basket case.