War room scandal paints a picture of desperation in fractured ANC

There are two important points raised by the furore which has followed revelations that the ANC had stockpiled a R50 million war chest to ensure victory in the 2016 municipal elections. Plus a court case over whether a public relations consultant was indeed owed millions in fees for orchestrating guerrilla propaganda against opposition parties.

Quite apart from any ethical considerations that the feud between public relations consultant Sihle Bolani has engendered, there are underlying issues which need to be examined.

The first is what appears to be a disingenuous series of evasions starting with party spokesperson Zizi Kodwa’s flat denial that Bolani and her associates had been contracted by the ANC or any of its structures.

An affidavit filed on behalf of the party by general manager Ignatius Jacobs followed, saying it owed Bolani no money and she had provided her services as a volunteer, yet undertaking that during a meeting on December 9 to pay the claimant R1 million by December 31 of which R100 000 had been paid with the balance still outstanding. A signed agreement duly emerged. Predictably, the DA are threatening legal action.

The second issue surrounds the use of web-based social media – shown by last week’s rash of bogus reports – to be shaky as a point of reference. These media outlets have, if the truth be told, little or no built-in accountability and basing a campaign relying on this social phenomena must in itself have a suspect core.

It might also be noted that any such campaign must be aimed largely at the urban electorate where the ANC has been shown to be vulnerable, rather than at the rural voters where the grassroots strength of the ruling party lies.

All of which surely points to a sense of desperation within an increasingly fractured ANC.

For more news your way, follow The Citizen on Facebook and Twitter.