By: Mphumzi Mdekazi
Amongst the reasons why African National Congress (ANC) continues to lose its dignity and revolutionary social standing is because of colossal hypocrisy and opportunism by some in its leadership. This is perpetuated by the failure of our current leader’s inability to self-correct and lack of sentiency. To some in the current leadership, (ANC) is just a spring-board towards positioning, self-aggrandizement and get rich quicker. To be frank, Oliver Tambo, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada and Nelson Mandela were neither “positionists” nor their leadership detrimental to the well-being of the ANC.
For the record, these stalwarts of the ANC were never implicated on both corruption and bringing the organization into disrepute when they were still servants of the movement. Somehow the current ANC leadership must be honest and check if it is still on the cause of its historic mission.
Once upon a time, the South African ruling class and its backers knew that the ANC was not fighting for mere reforms, but sought a fundamental and revolutionary transformation of the entire socio-economic system, which sustained racism, economic exclusion and white arrogance in our country. As the ANC pointed out in its strategy and tactics document, adopted in Morogoro in 1969: “In our country, more than in any other parts of the oppressed world, it has been inconceivable for liberation to have meaning without the return of the wealth of the land to the people as a whole”, the ANC proclaimed.
This was and has been the fundamental feature of the ANC’s strategy, which victory must embrace more than formal political democracy. Today, the ANC leadership allows the existing economic forces to retain their interests intact, and this in-directly feeds the root of racial supremacy, and doesn’t represents even the shadow of liberation.
Our drive towards national emancipation is thus in a very real way bound up with economic freedom. But what we see today is that; we elect a leader in a top six officials of the ANC who probably had less than R10 000 in his bank account during his/her election and was never economically active and turns out that his/her only motive to always remain in the top six is the anti-thesis of what the actual ANC is all about (abuse of power for personal-financial gain, not for the qualitative and ideological growth of the organization). One thing is certain, with this kind of leadership in our land, you can’t expect economic emancipation to be effectively led and tackled, unless the basic wealth and resources are at the disposal of the people as a whole and are not manipulated by sections of individuals, be they white or black. This is because there is a slow emerging new phenomenon of “black political oppressors”.
This perspective from a formal liberation to a genuine and lasting emancipation is made more real by the existence of a growing number of un-employed, glaring poverty, political corruption and more worrying the death of the ANC in the hands of the people who have no iota of an interest to save it. Equally saddening, is to also allow the growing effort to limit and tame the known influence of the ANC and its alliance partners from within the liberation movement by external forces. Of-course the leadership won’t admit it, but its glaringly out there. The racists and imperialists are strenuously trying to cut the ground from under our feet, they get assistance from within. They are afraid that a totally liberated South Africa under the leadership of the ANC and its allies would spell doom of their super exploitative interests. For the masses and true revolutionaries, the choice is clear, to intensify and heighten the struggle at all levels until the enemy is defeated. The big question is; do we have leaders who can be trusted with such revolutionary responsibility today?
Everything that is designed and seek to sustain white monopoly and exploitation of Africans in our country must be rejected. The struggle is not for minor tinkering with the exploitative socio-economic system, but for the seizure of total economic power, in a manner in which OR Tambo would have loved it, not for selected few but for the people he proudly led (Afraicans). Out of these lectures, it has become fashionable to pontificate now about OR Tambo and many other late former leaders’ lives. The question is: What has the ANC collectively done in Nkantolo Village, where OR Tambo was born for example, than a mere lecture and posturing.
It would seem, these lectures are done because it’s convenient to do so. In future we must be told something new about these leaders, particularly how we commit to emulate them in their revolutionary morality and betterment of our people’s socio-economic conditions. We can’t be told or lectured on what is already in libraries, something that has already been written. OR Tambo would never thieve from his people and he won’t impose himself to leadership positions through nefarious means, the ANC ought to be straight forward on these issues on how it elects its leader. Currently the bar is disturbingly low on how leaders are chosen. Where is the eye of the needle document, why is there no single leader of ANC talks about it? Maybe, also both as the ANC rank and file and society at large we get leaders we deserve. Those who decide to accept invitations to talks about leaders of OR Tambo’s caliber in public must first look at themselves with serious introspection.
More importantly, they must commit themselves on emulating him to transparent and accountable leadership and judicious governance, as opposed to live in contradiction to his principles and revolutionary ideals. I repeat, OR Tambo had no ulterior motive about being in a leadership position of the ANC.
In the book Freedom in our lifetime, fore-worded by AP Mda and Walter Sisulu; Anton Lembede reminds us of not only the basic principles of African Nationalism, but goes beyond to articulate that; each nation has thus its own peculiar contribution to make towards the general progress and welfare of Mankind. In other words each nation has its own divine mission. Think for instance of the contribution made by the Greeks (Science and Philosophy), Romans (Law and Politics), Jews (Christian religion and Technology), French (Modern Democracy), English (Spread of Western Civilization among Non-European through the world), Germans (Modern Science), Russians (Modern Economic Theories) and Africans. “Ex Africa semper quid novi”. From Africa always comes something new, exclaimed Lembede when he quoted an ancient Latin writer. He went on to say “whoever wishes to shape the future, should not forget the past”. These are words of deep human wisdom and of-course political savvy to commitment. We Africans, have still to erect monuments to “really” commemorate the glorious achievements of our great heroes of the past, e.g. Shaka, Moshoeshoe, Hintsa, Sikhukhuni, Khama, Sobhuza, Mzilikazi etc.
The big question is how are you going to shape the future if you don’t have the revolutionary past at all in your bones? You are likely to be hypocritical, opportunistic and be angry when you are reminded of your past or whenever this issue is raised, thus the revolution is delayed if not mismanaged. The consequence of this political mediocrity is that, the ANC membership will forever be expected to “understand” and that is a mother of all political blackmails. Ultimately, this is how we die as a movement and the most revolutionary traitors of all are those who keep quiet during this time of political difficulty, with all their rich political credentials. The question is: How is the ANC going to deal with a possibility of moving below 57% electoral performance of the previous elections?
