‘Renew or die’: Reverend Frank Chikane calls for ANC revival amid decline

“You either renew or you die.”

This was the message on Wednesday from ANC veteran Reverend Frank Chikane — marking 113 years of the country’s oldest liberation movement, which governed for three decades after the fall of apartheid.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Citizen ahead of the January 8 Statement of the ANC national executive committee (NEC), to be delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday in Cape Town, Chikane, who is part of the ANC Veterans’ League, has placed his hopes of the party regaining lost ground on the renewal programme.

Rev Chikane calls for ANC renewal

ANC renewal, he said, was “rooted in service delivery, deployment of capable cadres, and zero tolerance for corruption”.

In an unprecedented massive voter decline since taking over power from the National Party (NP) in 1994, the ANC suffered a blow in last year’s national polls, having only managed to garner 40.1% — forcing it to form a government of national unity with the DA and other smaller parties.

Chikane, who became one of the activists who endured the wrath of NP state repression during apartheid, including an attempt on his life, said: “The problem is not the ANC, but the leaders.

“What made about six million people stay at home in the last polls and not vote for any party was not because they did not like the ANC.

“They refused to vote due to being angry about failure to deliver.”

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Accept that ANC was ‘captured’

With the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture having exposed some ANC political heavyweights in being involved in graft and malfeasance, Chikane said the ANC should “take responsibility, accepting that the organisation was captured”.

“To capture the state, you needed to capture the ANC.

“But now, the greater part of cancer was wiped out before the elections — making the cleaning up of the ANC much easier.

“Most of the state capture people have moved out.

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“There are still remains of spots of the cancer in the body, which we need to remove.

“There were deployees who did not even know where water comes from and that you have to maintain the system.

“You need to deploy people who do not corrupt the system — people who cannot count.

‘Government environment was negative’

“Most of the financially educated people moved out of government because the environment was negative.

“We now want all those skills back, making sure that we deliver.

“Those who were unqualified but appointed into strategic positions might as well start looking for jobs.

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“If you are in a job you cannot do, look for a job you can do, because we are now going to require delivery and performance,” said Chikane.

Cleaning up

The blending of consequence management, political education, and a rapid response mechanism in reacting to community concerns is key in the ANC regaining societal trust.

“We must go back to the people and make it clear that the ANC was captured,” said Chikane.

“We are liberating it through cleaning it up, with rapid response mechanisms in place.

“With that and political education, we should be able to make sure that services are delivered to the people.

“We need to accept that wrong people were deployed.

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“While the ANC is busy renewing itself, we are aware of those who do not want to go to jail — ready to die with the ANC, like Samson in the Bible.

“Those who do not belong here may as well look for another home elsewhere.

“We want to make the life of the corrupt miserable, so that they find it difficult to remain in the ANC.”

How ANC can renew itself

He said the ANC Veterans’ League has produced strategies on how the party can renew itself.

“Last year I would have been doubtful whether the strategy would take off.

“But since last September, implementation started in earnest, with the political education programme and a foundation course, which every ANC leader goes through.

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“The Veterans’ League is now organised and has branches in every ANC region, training the trainers.

“The ANC has also established the local government intervention task team, constituted after the 2022 conference.

“This was after identifying failures to be at the local government level.

Too late

“The programme was ramped up before the 2024 election, but it was too late.

“It tested sufficiently; it will produce results of a rapid intervention mechanism.

“For example, in Ekurhuleni, there was a problem of a burst sewer pipe a few weeks ago. The rapid response unit moved in there, assessed the problem, and got the government to fix it — resolving the matter in 48 hours.

“This has demonstrated that there is no problem in the country that cannot be resolved.”

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