Johannesburg -
A group of influential South Africans, including former cabinet ministers, this week delivered a statement to ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and President Jacob Zuma, calling on the ANC to convene a consultative conference.
The group which calls itself Concerned Africans Forum (CAF) includes Aziz Pahad, a former deputy foreign affairs minster; Sydney Mufamadi, a former safety and security and provincial and local government minister, who is also the forum’s chairman; Alec Erwin, a former trade and industry minister; and Essop Pahad who served as minister in the presidency under Thabo Mbeki.
The group also include former ambassadors such as Yusuf Saloojee, George Nene, Antony Mongola and Ismail Coovadia.
“CAF joins the voices of those inside the country, from the continent and further afield who have expressed concern about the current juncture in our national life, whereby political and economic crises are exacerbated by the inability of the ANC leadership to provide political and moral guidance,” reads the statement submitted to Zuma and Mantashe this week.
The organisations calls for the restoration of the ANC “to uphold its historical values: to put the people of this country and continent first!”
CAF “holds the perspective that the ruling ANC since its formation in 1912 has a historical mission to advance the struggle against all forms of colonialism, imperialism and exploitation in advancing an agenda of freedom, democracy, human rights, peace and security in Africa and globally.
“ Weaknesses and division inside the ANC impacts negatively on its role in Africa and further afield as the vanguard of progressive internationalism,” the forum said in the statement.
“CAF supports calls for a conference of all ANC members and structures who share the objective of returning the organisation to its historic mission of promoting the freedom, liberation, and emancipation of all South African and African people.”
The group said such such a conference could usefully support and complement other initiatives and endeavours especially a national dialogue already called for on the April 14, 2016 by among others, the Albert Luthuli Foundation, the OR and Adelaide Tambo Foundation, the Sobukwe Foundation, the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, the Tutu and Leah Foundation and the Helen Suzman Foundation.
“We join other voices who have in various ways expressed their concern about the current juncture in the national life of South Africa.
“We note especially with grave apprehension the serious manifestations of political and economic crises in South Africa and the harsh existential impact this has had on ordinary South Africans, particularly with regard to the levels of poverty, unemployment, and inequality.”
The organisation said the latest Constitutional Court judgment where both the president and the National Assembly were found to have failed in their constitutional obligations are but tragic symptoms of the crises which confront the ANC as the ruling party and its collective moral charter to govern the country effectively, accountably, and responsibly.
It said the “already divisive and fraught climate has been exacerbated by the poor and erratic handling of the judgment.
“However, it is our considered view that simply treating the symptoms of the national malaise and not the causes will not be sufficient to restore the place of the ANC in the vanguard of advancing the national democratic revolution,” the forum said..
“What is called for is a return to the ANC’s foundational norms and values and its time-tested ability for self-correction and internal renewal.
“This is all the more necessary if the ANC is to successfully address many of the degenerative features of failure and decay both in its ranks and in the institutions of the state,” the group added.
Sunday Independent