GARETH VAN ONSELEN: 50 ANC reasons not to vote ANC

Take a moment to browse through the various damning comments on the ANC by party members and very quickly you are left with the impression the organisation is not just dysfunctional but despicable.

Yet, while some general impression to this effect might linger in the public mind it tends to be fleeting, certainly not coherent.

Too often an individual comment or assessment lives a life of its own. It goes into the current affairs machine, the appropriate outrage or praise is generated, and, after 24 hours or so, it disappears into the ether.

It is true that many of these views are expediently expressed by those complicit in the ANC’s contemporary condition, without regret or contrition, nevertheless. Veterans, alliance partners, the current leadership, internal reports, compromised or not — all point united to decay and destruction. This is the ANC on the ANC and the unintended by-product of all this ostensible "honesty" is a litany of reasons not to vote for the party. The opposition needs to do no more than print it all in a pamphlet.

Here, then, follows a list of prominent ANC comments on the ANC. Each one, in and of itself, is damning enough, but together they paint a more powerful picture — of a wretched organisation in its death throes: corrupt, out of touch, failing to deliver services, neglecting the poor, factionalised, mediocre, killing its own, incapable of introspection, led by the compromised and self-serving, and generally, it would seem, irrevocably trapped in a vicious cycle of self-destruction.

Collectively, they constitute a rhetorical slaughterhouse of disdain, contempt and disgust for the ANC and what it has become.

Behold, the once great and mighty ANC:

1. "This rot is across the board. It’s not confined to any level or any area of the country. Almost every project is conceived because it offers opportunities for certain people to make money. A great deal of the ANC’s problems are occasioned by this. There are people who want to take it over so they can arrange for the appointment of those who will allow them possibilities for future accumulation." Kgalema Motlanthe, Interview, January 2007.

2. "In the Northern Cape, we no longer have an ANC leadership. We have an ANC dealership." Anonymous ANC member, Interview, 2007.

3. "[The ANC] has failed the majority of our people and has become the old regime incarnate." Allan Boesak; Speech, March 2009.

4. "They [Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa] have dismally failed to co-ordinate their team in ensuring that it co-operates and finds the money to fund this priority [of free higher education] of both the government and the ANC." Thabo Majola, Speech, March 2010.

5. "There is a crisis of accountability." Jacob Zuma, Speech, September 2010.

6. "The bureaucracy resists giving information to people, especially when communities have little voice and are marginalised." Trevor Manuel, Speech, January 2011.

7. "We have people in middle-management positions that lack experience and competence. This is due to poor selection procedures, a dearth of skills in the country and in some cases, political interference in appointments." Trevor Manuel, Speech, January 2011.

8. "… your racism has infiltrated the highest echelons of government." Open letter from Trevor Manuel to Jimmy Manyi, March 2011.

9. "In this regard we must accept that despite the adequate allocation of funding, we fail to deliver quality services to especially the poor" and "We perform poorly, even by our own standards". Trevor Manuel, Speech, March 2011.

10. The "uncontrollable desire to accumulate wealth", "greed and the scramble for resources", "ill-discipline and emergence of a culture of defiance and disrespect of leadership", "gossip mongering, spreading lies and disinformation", "unprincipled fight for positions" and the "use of government positions or business profits" to "undermine democratic processes". Zweli Mkhize, outlining ten "emerging challenges" facing the ANC in an October 2012 speech.

11. "We have failed to live up to the vision of Mandela. We have failed materially in many respects." George Bizos, Speech, December 2013.

12. "We are no longer a liberation movement," and "Corruption, cronyism, control over the public debate have spread like a cancer through the ANC, and, because of this, through government and state institutions." Ronnie Kasrils, Speech, April 2014.

13. "Over the years, the black middle strata voted overwhelmingly for the ANC. However, there is clear evidence of shifts away from the ANC in the 2014 elections. The ANC needs to develop a comprehensive strategy to deal with this constituency, especially in the provinces where the black middle strata, has significant social, economic and political weight in determining the balance of power. We can’t [take] their support for granted." Base Document II, ANC Gauteng strategy document, October 2014.

14. "[The ANC] sent people who can’t debate, but to defend their interests. They are using Zuma to feather their nests," and "These are the people who don’t have the interest of SA at heart". Sandi Sejake, Interview, November 2014.

15. "Some of these factions are not based on ideological differences. They exist because of greed and the hunger for power, which, once obtained, is abused to take control of state resources and to further business interests. In this regard tendencies such as the use of money in order to manipulate the outcomes of electoral process in the organisation are totally unacceptable. The internal divisions in the organisation have exploded into the public arena because they haven’t been dealt with for some time." Jacob Zuma, Speech, October 2015.

16. "We allow mediocrity to spread like cancer to the highest echelons of the basic education system, thereby threatening the very foundation of the system." Angie Motshekga, Speech, January 2016.

17. "We don’t seem to be planning the things we do. We function on a hit-and-miss basis, which is shambolic." Kgalema Motlanthe, Interview, March 2016.

18. "The overwhelming evidence that has been accumulating over this period of time is proof of how the Guptas have seized control of our state." Barbara Hogan, March 2016.

19. "For the country’s sake we need new leadership not just the president but also in Parliament. I feel incredibly sad that we in the ANC, who were the driving force behind the Constitution, have allowed the founding principles of Parliament and the Constitution to be abused." Barbara Hogan, Interview, April 2016.

20. "We have a situation where the values of the president and his understanding of the Constitution are wrong," and "He doesn’t believe in constitutional democracy". Ben Turok, Interview, April 2016.

21. "Dear Comrade President, don’t you think your continued stay as President will only serve to deepen the crisis of confidence in the government of the country? And bluntly, if not arrogantly, in the face of such persistently widespread criticism, condemnation and demand, is it asking too much to express the hope that you will choose the correct way that is gaining momentum, to consider stepping down?" Ahmed Kathrada, Open letter to President Zuma, April 2016.

22. "There’s the corruption, he doesn’t have a morality, and he’s a misogynist." Ronnie Kasrils about Jacob Zuma, Interview, April 2016.

23. "The leadership is not making the right decisions and is not capable of this." Frank Chikane, Interview, April 2016.

24. "Cadres of the liberation movement, who have limited capacity for self-restraint, get entangled in venality hook, line and sinker. But there are also extremes, reflected by personalities who either do not have any, or lose all, sense of compunction and shame. The liberation movement may therefore also find itself dealing with syndromes that are in essence psychopathic — where the meaning of words is lost as individuals seek to rationalise bad conduct. Where corrupters and benefactors are criminally creative, blackmail — including through down payments that leave the beneficiary hopelessly entangled — also becomes the stock in trade." Joel Netshitenzhe, Lecture, May 2016.

25. "What we should all be focusing on is how do we inspire confidence in our economy, how do we stop shooting ourselves in the foot, how do we focus on providing new and creative answers…" Pravin Gordhan, Speech, May 2016.

26. "[The alliance partners have become] thieves who have transformed from the principles of selflessness to those of selfishness." Zwelinzima Vavi, June 2016.

27. "Once you target candidates, you kill 13 of them, that is political, you can’t put it any other way. Even if you hire hit men, the intention is political, you don’t eliminate candidates in an election that is thuggery. The reality of the matter is that to be elected as councillor today is life and death for a number of people. I think thuggery is taking over politics, it’s something that we need to pay attention to, to me that is the biggest problem." Gwede Mantashe, Interview, July 2016.

28. "I’m not one of those people who think the president is the only problem in the party, and the media tends to reduce that to the president. I’m saying it’s the leadership." Frank Chikane, Interview, August 2016.

29. "The ANC will never recover its support base under its current leadership," and "This core theme of ‘we’ve got a good story to tell about what we’ve done since 1994’ doesn’t wash with people any more, and so a party worth its salt must have a message about the future, not about the past, and that message about the future is tragically absent." Trevor Manuel, Interview, September 2016’.

30. "Truth be told, the ANC is suffering from an identity crisis, we have become a strange being that has alienated our people. We have steered off course, we are in deep trouble and unless we change course, we are headed for a calamity of unprecedented proportions." Paul Mashatile, Speech, September 2016.

31. "I have searched my conscience; I have applied my mind; I have consulted with trusted comrades, and with my family, and I have concluded that the ANC at all levels is at an ebb in its glorious 104-year history of excellence, indicated by internal strife and contradictory statements." Marius Fransman, Statement, September 2016.

32. "The ANC is bleeding, with every Sunday full of headlines about one cadre or the other accused of corruption." ANC national executive committee (NEC) Report, September 2016.

33. "When you see these things being done by a democratic state, your heart jumps. We are not only equal to the apartheid state, we are worse — because they never treated their ministers like this." Jackson Mthembu, Interview, October 2016.

34. "We suggest, Mr President that you have put your personal interests ahead of the national interest, jeopardising the independence of key institutions and you have consequently lost the confidence of the people of South Africa." ANC veteran front Save SA statement, October 2016.

35. "We must stop doing wrong things in Parliament, otherwise we can’t as the ANC continue to call ourselves the leader of society." Jackson Mthembu, Interview, November 2016.

36. "Why the Nkandla issue went as far as it went‚ it is because our leaders are ... captive ... like in prison. They know what is right‚ but they cannot do it. Like a person going through a nightmare‚ you cannot run‚ scream." Frank Chikane, Interview, November 2016.

37. "We [the SACP] are deeply concerned that the senior leadership in the ANC is failing to address the issues and, in our view, is often playing into the factionalism that exists inside the ANC and across the alliance and is not providing effective leadership in the current situation. It is a problem." Jeremy Cronin, Interview, November 2016.

38. "It is clearly not good governance but an indication that the municipality is failing to deliver to our people and those responsible must be held accountable and be removed." Thinta Cibane, Interview on the eThekwini administration, November 2016.

39. "The veterans are calling for the president to step down. We don’t see the current NEC, as structured, taking any initiative taking the organisation forward." Mavuso Msimang, Speech, November 2016.

40. "Inside our own movement we are faced with the destructive challenge of factionalism. Even more disturbing is that the factions have nothing to do with ideological or tactical differences on how best to achieve the objectives of our struggle. It is factionalism largely based on competition for control over organisational power and its use as a step ladder for access to and control over public power and resources and dispense patronage." Blade Nzimande, Speech, January 2017.

41. "Leadership contests are accompanied by practices such as gate-keeping, vote buying, electoral fraud and even violence. We must face the reality that much of the factionalism in our movement is rooted in a competition for access to resources." Cyril Ramaphosa, Speech, January 2017.

42. "There are three things that will destroy the ANC before we know it. One is corruption, thieves. We have no shortage of them," and "At this stage we cannot say that it [corruption] is a perception. There are people in the ANC who loot the state, and when you loot you destroy the ability of the state to deliver services." Gwede Mantashe, Speech, January 2017.

43. "I realised, deeply and painfully, in watching this, that I have come to a point where I refuse to be part of the intellectual funeral of the ANC, that I refuse to be associated with so-called leaders who trample on the people who voted them into office, who disrespect the Constitution, whose only predictable response to all challenges is ‘racism’ and who are willing to sacrifice the future of our children before the throne of a man who knows no shame and shows no character." Mathews Phosa, February 2017.

44. "This [Gupta] network often conducts itself as a shadowy parallel state outside of the collective Cabinet discipline and above any accountability to Parliament or the ANC." SACP, Article, February 2017.

45. "Our nation is experiencing increased pain, hunger, thirst and depravation while those in the centre of power turn their backs so they can focus on amassing illicit wealth. They are eating away our nation with their corruption and their abuse of power. They believe it is their turn to eat. Money intended for social services like education, health and social development is being stolen by some politicians, public servants and service providers. The grip of state capture rips the soul out of state-owned companies, encourages gross financial mismanagement and promotes unfettered looting. It is getting even tighter as Zuma and his cronies line up the biggest tender-grab ever: the nuclear energy deal, which best epitomises the current phase of state capture." Sipho Pityana, Article, February 2017.

46. "Blaming the Constitution for the embarrassingly slow pace of land reform is both disingenuous and scapegoating. We failed, finish en klaar." Jackson Mthembu on Twitter, March 2017.

47. "This bullshit in these parastatals must come to an end now! I’ve had enough.… Comrades are running these as if they are family businesses." Tony Yengeni, Twitter, March 2017.

48. "Increasingly the image of this country and the government is going to the dogs, because repeatedly you have these massive reports of corruption and there has not been clear and serious evidence of confronting this corruption." Popo Molefe, Interview, March 2017.

49. "The ANC raised a problem repeatedly … what we were picking up was that there were people who were joining the ANC, not because they upheld the values and perspectives and aspirations of the ANC, but because it was an instrument to access state power. So you join, and so that I can become a minister, mayor, president or something. And the reason you want to access this power is for self-enrichment." Thabo Mbeki, Speech, March 2017.

50. "I am making a plea for all of us. This movement, and our country indeed, is at a crossroads. We are at a crisis." Faiez Jacobs, Speech, March 2017.