Luthuli House, the ANC headquarters in Johannesburg. Picture: Michel Bega
The ANC was forced to celebrate its 109th birthday in a different way on Friday.
There weren’t the big parties or huge crowds, nor the lavish birthday cake or champagne. Covid-19 made sure of that.
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa last night delivered a virtual address after veterans and stalwarts gave their impression of the importance of the January 8 statement prior to his speech.
Perhaps the dampened festivities will give the ruling party a chance to reflect on the job it has done for the past 26 years.
It doesn’t have a good story to tell. The party is not in a good space now.
People have lost confidence in its ability to lead a country in this crisis when it doesn’t even have its own house in order.
In-fighting between different factions within the ANC is the norm, while allegations of deep-rooted corruption haunts the party.
Those implicated in corruption need to answer one way or another, or be held accountable for them. There’s no getting around it.
The ruling party needs to be honest with itself.
The past is important, but it counts for very little if everything that was fought for is squandered by future generations.
The ball is in the ANC’s court for it to change its course. A country depends on it.
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