ANC mulls proposal to replace leadership with task team to rebuild the party

ANC leaders in the national working committee (NWC) are said to be mulling a proposal to temporarily dissolve the party’s leadership and put in its place a national task team to rebuild the organisation.

This after a group calling themselves ANC cadres held a summit to discuss the crisis facing the organisation.

Its leader, retired general Maomela “Mojo” Motau, told News24 the 31-page document “ANC turnaround strategy 2025” was handed over to the NWC and they were currently in talks with them over some of the suggestions.

He said some of the main players currently in talks with the cadres included ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe, secretary-general Ace Magashule and the deputy secretary-general

“It was presented and there are discussions, yesterday there was a meeting chatting the way we are actually trying to get the structure to work. The meeting is due to continue next week Thursday were I hope we are going to finalise how the system is able to work,” Motau added.

He was lambasted by the head of the SA National Defence Force for mobilising soldiers to discuss matters involving the governing party.

The document detailed some of the crises the governing party is facing, including a crisis of legitimacy, credibility, political coherency, morality and leadership.

The document read: “Through the years the ANC boasted of a tried and tested leadership armed with revolutionary theory. Today, leadership seems to lack political consciousness and therefore lacks agility of the political mind. It is a leadership that pursues personal interests rather than the interest of the masses of our people. Leadership is therefore not earned in struggle but grabbed through other means.”

It continued: “It is a leadership that is immobilised and rendered incapable of leading our revolutionary movement to achieve its strategic goal. We are in a state of paralysis. All is lost including the required agility and political acumen.”

The document further stated the root cause of the crisis was the lack of political commitment to the struggle, making the ANC its own worst enemy.

Force

The document bemoaned the fact the party had abandoned its critical structures necessary for building a solid and formidable force against “neo-colonialism”, adding its political, security and communication structures have virtually disappeared.”We find ourselves forced to adopt policies that actually serve to strengthen neo-colonialism rather than revolutionary change,” the document read, saying the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) policy, Spatial Development Framework and Bantu education syndrome have ensured the ANC was a mere liberal party in a neo-colonial set-up and not a revolutionary movement.

“It will be a difficult and arduous task to rescue our leadership from the clutches of neo-colonialism and neo-liberalism in short time. That is an operation that will take serious political persuasion and a long drawn out political process. Putting the ANC in some way on administration is therefore the only viable approach and solution to the challenges we face.

It read: “Accordingly, a National Task Team is the only credible structure that should take charge of running ANC affairs in the short term. This is a matter of strategic importance. In this regard credible and committed cadres should be asked to volunteer to participate in this process of strategic renewal of the movement. To this end, comrades must have a history of struggle that can stand scrutiny,” it adds.

The National Task Team would build structures with a political programme to revitalise the ANC.

The ANC cadres’ strategy details how all foreign national must leave South Africa within the prescribed period and those running small businesses and organisations should close shop or stop the businesses and leave the country within the prescribed period.

News24 reached out to ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe, whose comment will be added to the story once received.

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