NATASHA MARRIAN: Talk of renewal in ANC just semantics as reform fails to take root

While the clean-up of the government in the wake of the state capture project is continuing apace, there is little evidence that any sort of reform is taking root in the governing party.

In fact, a vicious fightback has begun from looters who face jail time for their conduct. Unsurprisingly, the ANC appears to be the main battleground for this rebellion. Despite this, the party continues to use unity as its mantra, but it is a unity that is preventing any chance of reform or renewal.

Deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo captured the dire state of the ANC during evidence led by former mining minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi this week that painted a harrowing picture of the state of the party during former president Jacob Zuma’s second term, at the height of state capture.

Ramatlhodi described the situation as “sheer madness”, in which Zuma could not be held accountable because his “slate” had packed the national executive committee with acolytes who would not disagree with him. Those who spoke out were ignored and even if the dominant view went against Zuma, he would simply ignore those voices and get his way by closing the meeting and articulating his own views. The ANC was in effect paralysed, Ramatlhodi said.

Zuma’s response to concerns voiced about the influence of the Gupta family was that they were his friends and that they had given his sons, Duduzane and Edward, jobs when no-one else would. An entire 86-strong leadership of the party let this fly, irrespective of the fact that it was an incredibly selfish consideration based on the needs of one individual, for an organisation that was charged as the government with the wellbeing of 55-million citizens.

How can the ANC be renewed when the organisation’s secretary-general is former Free State premier Ace Magashule, Zuma’s effective deputy in the Gupta-led government?

The ANC leadership, astonishingly, was even aware that Zuma had two secretaries, one appointed by the state and another by the Guptas, but was powerless to act against him.

Zondo’s profound question was: “What if, in the future, could there be another personality who became president of the organisation and the organisation goes back to the kind of paralysis that you have told us about?

“And, of course, maybe I am looking at that because insofar as the ANC is the governing party, and insofar as it may still be the governing party, well if that were to happen in the future the country needs to say, could we go back through the same situation with an NEC that realises a situation that is unacceptable, but being helpless to stop it?”

There is little evidence that in its current state the ANC will be able to counter such a situation should it arise again. In fact, its so-called renewal is nothing but semantics. How can the ANC be renewed when the organisation’s secretary-general is former Free State premier Ace Magashule, Zuma’s effective deputy in the Gupta-led government?

While 2019’s election is a temporary distraction, the ANC is likely to revert to its factional war for access to state resources at all levels if or when it retains power. There is no evidence to suggest otherwise.

Magashule’s widely publicised clandestine meeting with Zuma and the aftermath of that meeting, which included an increase in noise from the looters, suggests that they are biding their time to fight to return to power.

Former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke provided some comic relief with his comments: “We all lost the guts to tell a bumbling fool who was sitting out there acting as a president and tell him he is a fool, and tell him he is incapable of upholding the high ideals of our liberation struggle.

“And as we failed to do that we actually allowed so much devastation and poor people became poorer … We abandoned our duty to make sure institutions … are accountable and properly populated and that we would be the ones to scream at the height of our voices when that doesn’t happen,” Moseneke said.

The fightback against the clean-up of our institutions is being driven by people in the ANC who are even resorting to using the EFF as their attack dogs as the real war plays out behind the scenes.

Chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng struck a personal chord when he closed the media briefing in which he released the judiciary’s annual report, with profound words for journalists who are patriots and conduct their work ethically.

“I don’t always agree with you as you know, but one thing I will make my business to fight for is to ensure that we truly have an independent media that is not intimidated by anybody in discharging their responsibilities. Where would we be without you?”

It has been heart-wrenching to cover politics in SA in recent years. Being in the front seat, watching the country you love crash and burn was not easy. Now, renewed attacks from the EFF against individual journalists and the media as a whole indicate that we are entering yet another tumultuous period.

While some have recommended self-censorship to deal with the onslaught from the EFF, by refusing to cover its events, this is a dangerous option. Once it starts in a conscious way, where does it end? Self-censorship is a line this democrat and journalist refuses to cross.

The question of live broadcasts of EFF media conferences is another matter — it was always strange that certain broadcasters would take every EFF media conference live, but not do the same for the DA or any other opposition party.

It is extremely disappointing that the ANC has not come out in defence of media freedom — because it is media freedom that Julius Malema and the EFF are threatening. As the self-proclaimed leader of society and architect of the constitutional democracy that is supposed to protect media freedom, the party’s silence is deafening.

With Cyril Ramaphosa’s election to the helm of the ANC came considerable hope for change, but he cannot expect to change the country the party leads if he does not reform the party itself.

• Marrian is political editor.