Fear of Gauteng ANC branch violence prompts police deployment
Holding a political position has become a matter of life and death, and not democracy, which leads to violence at branches, an analyst says.
Supporters of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma protest outside the Johannesburg High Court on 12 December 2017. The protests occured as Matthews Phoza applies to stop unity branches from going ahead to the ANC elective conference. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
The threat of violence at ANC branch meetings in the run-up to the Gauteng elective conference was “indicative of a collapse of internal democracy” in the governing party, according to political analyst Somadoda Fikeni.
The situation has prompted the province’s community safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane to request police deployment.
Reacting to the situation, which signified a departure from the ANC of Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu, Fikeni said ANC internal processes had ceased to be transparent and “lacked integrity”.
“There is economic desperation in the country, where people are looking at politics as a way to social mobility which has the quickest outcomes,” he said.
“To some people, to hold or lose a political position has become an existential issue, rather than democratic.
“The question they are asking themselves is: ‘If I lose a position, will I be able to pay rent, school fees and groceries?’ Something that now makes politics to become a matter of life and death.”
Fikeni traced the roots of a creeping desperation for personal enrichment and survival of ANC members to the party’s 52nd national conference in Limpopo a decade ago, in which Jacob Zuma replaced Thabo Mbeki as leader.
The violence at branches comes as the ANC gears up for a contest about who will lead it in Gauteng following the election of former chairperson Paul Mashatile to the full-time position of treasurer-general.
– brians@citizen.co.za
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