The battle among competing factions might be characterised as the struggle for the “soul” of the party, writes Vusi Shongwe.
Addressing a press conference in Lusaka in June 20051985, Oliver Tambo said: “Those of us who are the true liberators should not fight among ourselves. Let us not allow the enemy’s dirty tricks to succeed in getting us to fight one another.”
These words remain relevant today as they were when they were first uttered.
As the ANC braces itself for both the policy and elective conferences, there are significant lessons that could be learned from the ANC’s leadership of yesteryear. The ANC can only disregard the views of its legends and veterans at its own peril.
President Igor Smirnov of Transnistria, near Ukraine, talks about the importance of saving the heritage of the senior generation as “their feat will remain for centuries as a caution for our descendants, as a lesson of courage, of selfless service to the Fatherland, of fidelity to the ideals of good and justice”.
Equally profound was French philosopher Maurice Halbwachs who said “the present generation may rewrite history but it does not write it on a blank page”. Then there is Machiavelli’s observation that “in politics as in physical health, in the beginning illness is easy to cure but hard to recognise; if untreated, it becomes, in the fullness of time, easy to recognise but hard to cure”.
Nothing better captures the observations and lessons offered above more aptly than the factions that have polarised the once-mighty ANC. The crisis facing the ANC is not only an indictment of our leaders but also a blot on the many personal sacrifices that brought this nation to where it is today. Tambo and many others of his generation must be turning in their graves.
A now time-honoured aphorism teaches how “great freedom comes with great responsibility”, something which our current leaders are failing to live up to.
In his celebrated book On War, Carl von Clausewitz posits that “politics” is a contest of power over control of governance and resources and not necessarily “governance” itself. Politics tends to be about who controls power and not about how the political system operates successfully, and this perhaps speaks directly to the root cause of the current factionalism in the ANC.
Factions acquire names, such as the Premier League in the ANC, and create groupings that would advance differing positions from others within their party. Some seek preservation and others seek change. Change factions are typically driven by the ideal, while the status quo-oriented factions seek to preserve material benefits.
Indeed, the battle among competing factions might be characterised as the struggle for the “soul” of the party, which is exactly what is playing out in the ANC at present.
Sadly, in people’s minds factionalism implies conflict, disunity and a withdrawal of consent.
In his essay “Of Parties in General”, Scottish philosopher David Hume observed: “Factions subvert government, render laws impotent, and beget the fiercest animosities among men of the same nation.”
Frank P Belloni and Dennis C Beller note how factions are often credited with wreaking havoc in political systems where no parties have yet developed, or to be destructive forces where stable parties exist.
Not only does factional politics play a negative role in developing unity and responsible and effective government but it is also blamed for the spread of corruption inside the governing party. There are systemic factors that need to be interrogated if the ANC is to curb the tide of factionalism, more especially as it braces itself for both the policy and elective conferences.
The gulfs that have been engendered by factionalism are not unbridgeable. All that is required is an honest leadership that will promote reconciliation. The ANC needs to initiate a process to broker peace among its members, especially among leaders who - for whatever reason - do not see eye to eye. This process will provide space for comrades to share the deep hurt and pain they have inflicted upon themselves.
Nowhere is such a process more important and urgent than in KwaZulu-Natal. The current divisions in the province could have a detrimental effect on the rest of the country. It is no understatement to say that when KZN sneezes, the whole country catches flu.
To paraphrase Martin Luther King jr, let ANC leaders stop drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred, but rather promote peace and unity. The ANC needs to be reminded that the struggle to deliver the majority of the people from the scourge of poverty and its attendant ills like inequality is far from over.
The ANC as a party needs to revisit the slate method or the “winners take all” approach when choosing leaders. The slate method should be done away with. Not only does it polarise the party, but it also robs it of capable leaders.
The calibre of the cadre the ANC is recruiting needs to be revisited as well. In some respects the present membership of the ANC leaves a lot to be desired. Some hardly know the constitution of the ANC, let alone the culture and the policies of the party.
The killing of ANC members by their own comrades for positions is not only lamentable but tragic in the broader political discourse of the democratic South Africa of which the ANC must be a leader.
* Shongwe works in the office of the KZN Premier. He writes in his personal capacity.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.