ANC divided as ever – analysts

Despite the promise by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the ANC would work to unite and renew itself and to suspend or jail corrupt members, this is nothing but empty political rhetoric.

This is the view of political analyst Dr Ralph Mathekga, who said the ANC’s promise to give teeth to its integrity commission and Ramaphosa’s promise to jail corrupt ANC members were hollow.

Mathekga said even Ramaphosa’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan and promise of job creation were familiar rhetoric in the president’s public statements.

The ANC had been calling for unity of the party before it took a resolution at Nasrec in 2017.

Ramaphosa himself had repeatedly appealed for unity at every ANC gathering, but in vain.

“The renewal is an old discussion. The more they talk about renewal and unity, the more the ANC gets divided.

“Divisions are entrenched in the ANC I don’t see unity happening any time soon,” Mathekga said.

Similarly, on every public platform, Ramaphosa spoke about the plan for economic recovery.

“The call for economic recovery is good one, but we don’t see much in terms of results. This is all about positioning
the ANC to advance its agenda.

“How different is this from so many other statements?” asked Mathekga.

Ramaphosa also promised mass vaccinations for Covid-19, but there was doubt about the country’s procurement to secure the vital vaccine.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize promised that 40 million citizens would be vaccinated by the end of the year, starting with front-line health workers.

In the annual ANC January 8 statement on Friday, Ramaphosa said the integrity commission would be strengthened and corrupt members must step aside immediately.

He said those who refused would be suspended.

Mathekga said the call for corrupt ANC members to step aside was meaningless unless party secretary-general Ace Magashule led by example and subjected himself to the full party process.

At its 54th national conference at the Nasrec Expo Centre, the ANC resolved that members suspected of involvement in corruption must step aside pending the conclusion of their matters.

But, three years later, the resolution has not been implemented.

An uMkhonto we Sizwe veteran and now president of the opposition the Agency for New Agenda party, Tshidiso Mokhoanatse, said he has listened to 44 ANC January 8 statements, but the past 25 speeches were “uninspiring”.

“For the past few years, these statements have been hugely uninspiring, mainly directed at performing a ritual rather than addressing the elephants in the room,” Mokhoanatse said.

He expressed doubt about the ANC’s ability to fix the economy because it was responsible for its downfall.

“For starters, our economy is broken and we have a right to be told who, how and by when is it going to be fixed, and not resorting to slogans aimed at placating our people.

“You cannot commandeer the reconstruction of the economy by presidential proclamation,” Mokhoanatse said.

In the past, the ANC government came up with policies such as the Reconstruction and Development Programme, Growth, Employment and Redistribution, AsgiSA and the National Development Plan, but there had been no change.

“We have now come full circle and are beginning to recycle tired slogans, including the use of the word reconstruction as it was used in the Reconstruction and Development Programme.

“Before you provide any solution to the broken economy, you need to answer one simple question: who broke this economy?

“I would even venture to say that the economy is not actually broken. It was stolen and hollowed out to a point that it is crushing under its decimated weight.

“We should not expect any economic recovery from the same people who broke it in the first instance. I do not buy this rhetoric,” Mokhoanatse said

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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