OPINION: What matters most is the servicing of the needs of the people, and certainly not the factional battles playing themselves out in the ANC.
By Dr Vusi Shongwe
“THOSE of us who are true liberators should not fight among themselves. Let us not allow the enemy’s dirty tricks to succeed in getting us to fight one another” (Oliver Tambo addressing a press conference in Lusaka in June 1985).
Tambo’s words as quoted above remain relevant today in the same way as they were when they were first uttered in 1985. The only difference is that at the time of their first utterance the enemy was the notorious apartheid government with its askaris whereas today the enemy is, I would argue, money.
Thus, taking a cue from Tambo’s wise counsel to the effect that “those of us who are true liberators should not fight among themselves” ANC leaders should be expending their energies strategising and coming up with innovative ways on how to expedite service as “there is a time to plant and a time to harvest” (Ecclesiastes 3:2). This would in all likelihood improve the lives of the people, especially the poorest of the poor.
The leaders would be well advised to take heed of Waldo Ralph Emerson’s advisory remarks to the effect that “things that matter most must not be at the mercy of things that matter least.” What matters most is the servicing of the needs of the people, and certainly not the factional battles playing themselves out in the ANC.
One is not oblivious of the reality that factions and competitions in politics will always be there. This fact notwithstanding, my take is that these factions should not be meant to divide the party but should be used on the contrary to outshine one another in the quest of who can best serve the people if elected.
Most importantly, once the elections are done and leadership is elected, the competitors, not factions, should jettison the competing mindset and rally behind the elected leadership. Henry Ford once said, “obstacles are those frightful things we see when we take our eyes off the goal.” The factional battles are nothing but obstacles that not only derail the implementation of projects like the national development plan, but also have taken the focus off the goal of serving and improving the lives of the people.
There is urgency to attend to the ragingly and factional battles, perceived or real, which have plunged the oldest liberation movement in Africa into a political abyss. The fast widening gulf and profound differences among leaders entrusted with the responsibility of improving the lives of the embittered downtrodden not only spells disaster, but also portends gloom and doom for South Africa if it is not nipped in the bud. It is against this backdrop that I echo the sentiments expressed by former president Kgalema Motlanthe in his averment that the factional battles will destroy the ANC.
There is conspicuous and profound feeling of disquiet, discomfort and palpable anger from the people, which was best exemplified by the unkind and unceremonious reception, the leaders of the ruling party were welcomed with during their door-to-door campaigns for the upcoming local government elections.
If the cold receptions are anything to go by, the ruling party is in for a big surprise come the day of the local government elections. As the ANC braces itself for the local government elections, though late, there are, however, significant lessons to be learned from the cold reception its leaders received when campaigning over the weekend.
They can only disregard the disturbing signs, exemplified by their unwelcome in some areas at their own peril. The political uncertainty and unfriendly political climate that has been engendered by the factional battles in the ANC, are an insult to the freedom fighters who spent years in prison and those who paid the ultimate price for South Africa’s freedom.
Political divisiveness and factionalism in the ANC are both an indictment and a blot to its leaders. Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Manto Msimang, Phila Ndwandwe, Winnie Mandela, Albertina Sisulu, Charlotte Mannya Maxeke, John Langalibalele Dube and Chris Hani, among the legion of others, must be turning in their graves.
To paraphrase a now time-honoured aphorism, “with great freedom comes great responsibility”.
This is something which our leaders are now failing to live up to. It is my wish that our ANC leaders be reminded that the struggle to deliver the many people from the scourge of poverty and all its attendant ills, like inequality and unemployment, is far from being over.
*Shongwe is the former head of the Department of the Royal Household and Chief Director in the KwaZulu-Natal Office of the Premier.
**The views expressed here are not necessarily that of IOL.