People still love the ANC, says Struggle stalwart

File photo: Andrew Mlangeni, South African political activist and former political prisoner.

File photo: Andrew Mlangeni, South African political activist and former political prisoner.

Published Oct 30, 2016

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Durban -Struggle stalwart Andrew Mlangeni, one of three surviving Rivonia triallists, says the ANC is under siege and the party needs to unite or it stands to lose the 2019 elections.

Mlangeni, 91, chairperson of the ANC’s Integrity Committee, says greed, corruption and factionalism have torn the party asunder, and that the ANC needs to close ranks and be seen to deal with these challenges to win the confidence and trust of South Africans - before it is too late.

Speaking at his Dube, Soweto home, the same home he returned to when he was released from Robben Island in 1989, Mlangeni agrees with secretary-general Gwede Mantashe that those concerned with the state of the party must speak out, within the structures of the movement, rather than make inflammatory remarks from the sidelines.

“The ANC needs to heal, and if we sit out here and shout, we are not helping,” he says firmly. “We should engage, robustly, within.

“My view is that when my organisation has made a decision, I must carry it out. If I have objections, I must make them within the structures of the organisation, so that we can correct it.

“We must close ranks. We have always done that before. We have worked for the common cause. That’s what I am appealing for. Let’s forget about the things that divide us. Let’s go to the people, apologise, win them back. People still love the ANC,’ said Mlangeni.

It is with this in mind that Mlangeni and his committee met the ANC top six leadership on October10 to raise their concerns with the rot in the party, and to ask for a serious introspection in the wake of the embarrassing defeat in the August3 local government polls.

The party lost key metros, including Joburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay, to a coalition of the DA and the EFF.

“At the meeting (of the top six), I repeated that we are not asking the president to step down. Our position is that he must stay until he finishes his term. We called for unity,” he said.

“But we also wanted an explanation on a number of things, (including) the Nkandla issue, on the Guptas, on e-tolls in Gauteng. We lost a number of voters in Gauteng because of e-tolls. Our position was that we should have seen these things coming. We didn’t, and we were punished at the polls.

“No one person should take the fall for what has happened. We allowed things to degenerate to this level, and it is our duty to return the ANC to its glory days. The people have lost interest in us because we have failed to self-correct, and to account for our actions.”

Mlangeni said they told all the top six officials, not just President Zuma, that they, with the NEC, shouldered the blame.

Mlangeni said the meeting was frank and the leaders listened. “We needed to tell them that we performed badly in the local government elections. People stayed away not because they don’t love us, but because they say we are arrogant, that we take them for granted. The people are angry, clearly,” he said.

“This would never have happened had we done an introspection. We should all take responsibility.”

Mlangeni said fortunately the ANC had not closed communication channels with him so he was able to raise issues within the organisation. “The ANC listens to me because I stand for integrity. They respect our committee as the custodian of ANC values. I can see Gwede any time. I can see Baleka any time. I don’t need an appointment. “

Mlangeni would know how much damage these values have suffered over the years, as comrades turn against each other in the battle for the soul of the ANC.

As chairperson of the committee, set up after a resolution at the party’s conference in Mangaung in 2012, he said his team had been investigating several cases of misconduct, and had submitted reports to the party for further action.

But the committee’s work is hamstrung, like many of the party’s structures, because of infighting, and factionalism. Mlangeni wished they had teeth to deal adequately with indiscipline within their ranks.

“At Mangaung, a resolution was passed that we have this committee to bring back discipline and to remind comrades of the values for which the ANC stands. We call comrades when we see media reports or hear something we think is in conflict with the values of the ANC, and we ask them to explain. We ask them to account, then make further investigations. If we come to a finding, we report to the top six leadership, through Mantashe. They, in turn, report to the NEC, which then takes final decisions to either expel or suspend or give a warning.

“As a committee we don’t take the decision, we merely make a recommendation,” he said.

Sunday Tribune

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