Guard against tribalism

Alex Matlala

LIMPOPO – THE escalation of tribalism within the ANC has propelled the party’s leadership in the Limpopo region of Mopani to draft a document which urges the ruling party to “win the war against tribalism”.

The document, which regional leaders tabled in 2012 at the party’s provincial policy conference prior to the Mangaung elective conference where Jacob Zuma was re-elected as party president for a second term, analysed the causes and the consequences of tribalism in the ANC and beyond the party’s structures. Simply entitled “The Demon of Tribalism”, the document says the problem with “tribesmen” – those who practise tribalism – is that they do not like democracy, freedom and women’s rights.

According to the document, while members have a right to belong to tribes, their tribal affiliations should not be brought into the ANC.

The document highlights that tribalism is mostly practised during deployment of cadres in government, at social gatherings and in political discussion forums. It observes that tribalism is so bad in some cases that if the head of a state agency or government department belongs to a particular tribe, chances are that most employees of that entity would be from the same tribe. “The criterion that is used by some government departments to dish out services can also constitute tribalism.”

ANC regional secretary at the time, Bricks Mandzini said the ANC was a national movement and not a tribal one. He said tribalism affected “innocent people” in the province, especially in Mopani where there had been complaints in the workplace.

The document states that some ANC leaders have ascended to power by making promises of jobs to members of their tribes. It says tribal leaders put resources together to fight those seen as outsiders. “It is difficult to channel their tribal energy into the national agenda because they are tightly preoccupied with tribal politics. Tenders are also awarded along tribal lines. The problem is so deeply rooted that bidders coming from the same tribe with those who have powers to award tenders are getting rich,” the document states.

The ANC, the document suggests, has to discourage government officials from overlooking certain programmes that need to be implemented in favour of parachuting projects in certain tribal areas. Mopani is divided into five sub-regions of Greater Tzaneen, Ba-Phalaborwa, Letaba, Maruleng and Giyani.

Last week, the region has seen an upsurge in political violence that left one man fighting for his life after he was shot in the stomach. Allegations of tribalism were hurled out during the scuffle which indicated that tribalism was still embedded in the region, the province and within the ANC nationwide. In another incident, an ANC chief whip in Giyani was assaulted during a party meeting after cadres differed over whether the meeting should continue or not. ANC provincial spokesperson, Khumbudzo Nthshavheni said the document formed part of the discussions during the provincial party congress and was handed over to the national leadership and had been dealt with.

“We want to make it clear that the ANC is a non-tribal organisation and will fight the demon of tribalism whenever it rears its ugly head. During the term of office of this PEC and the REC of Mopani, there have been no letters alleging tribalism in branches of the ANC.”

Ntshavheni denied allegations that the deployment of ANC cadres in government jobs was based on tribalism. She said the ANC did not campaign or lobby on the basis of language, colour, origin or culture. The document also states: “branches of the ANC must heed a clarion call that tribalism is not afforded a space to exist within the party”. The document furthermore praises president Jacob Zuma for appointing people from Limpopo in key positions.

Political analyst Elvis Masoga said former president Nelson Mandela had warned the party in the mid-1990s that, if unchecked, the ghost of tribalism could haunt the ANC. Mandela, a Xhosa, said his preference was for Cyril Ramaphosa, a Venda, to succeed him, but an elective conference elected Thabo Mbeki instead.