Zuma to blame for rot

AN ORGANISATION is good as the people running it. This was made clear in the local government elections, where the ANC, once the darling of the nation, got a drubbing.

The party did so badly it was forced to negotiate with its arch nemesis, Julius Malema of the EFF, who made it clear his party would only negotiate if the president was dismissed. In one municipality, the ANC was so desperate to secure control it offered the mayor’s post to a candidate whose party won just one seat.

Analysts and surveys show blame for the ANC’s decline lies squarely on the shoulders of the president.

Many in the ANC as well in the tripartite alliance recognise this but are too afraid or too mired in mud themselves to admit it, fearing they will be dismissed from their cushy jobs.

They wouldn’t want to be subjected to the fate of former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene or Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan, neither of whom has been willing to suck up to the president and sanction ridiculous requests from SAA’s Dudu Myeni to purchase expensive aircraft or to support the unaffordable nuclear power deal with Russia when we have sufficient environmentally safe and sustainable alternative power from wind and solar energy.

In spite of the overwhelming evidence that Jacob Zuma’s reprehensible leadership was the cause of the party’s dismal performance, the sycophantic leadership ran to their master’s rescue, blaming factional infighting, corruption and poor service delivery instead.

Even the lacklustre president of Cosatu, S’dumo Dlamini, who is strangely also a member of the NEC, accused the ANC of not listening to the electorate. If he was in his right senses, he would realise he and the rest of the NEC have to take collective responsibility for the party’s failure and resign, along with the president.

The president treated the country like his personal fiefdom. After wasting several millions in taxpayers’ money on legal fees to avoid paying for unnecessary upgrades to his homestead, he finally conceded he was wrong, but only when the Constitutional Court found him guilty of violating the constitution for not abiding by the public protector’s recommendations.

This should have been sufficient grounds for impeachment.

The ANC is a huge party that enjoyed the respect of the majority when it came to power under Mandela. Under his rule, the intellectuals in the party gave us one of the best constitutions in the world.

We were the envy of the rest of the free world for our successful and peaceful transition.

Unfortunately, after Madiba’s departure, the party has fallen into disrepute, at home and abroad. Under Zuma, hardly a month has passed without the party being accused of corrupt practices and his lieutenants in the NEC have either looked the other way or participated in the corruption.

The simple answer is for the ANC to revisit its modus operandi when it comes to appointing people to public positions. Anyone seeking a government post must be educated, morally irreproachable and have no criminal record. Anyone guilty of corruption must be dismissed and banned for life from public office.

Right now, getting rid of the ANC is not the ideal answer but getting rid of the rot in the party is what is required. We need people of the calibre of Madiba, Kader Asmal, Dullah Omar, Beyers Naude and Barbara Hogan to run the party. We have many highly educated people without Struggle credentials who can match these stalwarts and they must be given a chance. Too many of these politicians are being drawn into insignificant parties.

If we had a strong party with an honest leader we could make this one of the greatest countries to live in. Having umpteen tiny parties is a formula for chaos and corruption.