A prominent political commentator recently described ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula as a man of “Lilliputian” intellect. His rambling, strident lecture-like opening address at the predictably delayed ANC Western Cape elective congress this weekend proved him to be a person of “Brobdingnagian” — that is to say humongous — verbosity as well.
Mbalula and his president reflect exactly what is wrong with the ANC and its appointed government. Their sense of superior sagacity, their puffed up self-importance and propensity to preach to the world at large as to how it should conduct itself, and their derisive rejection of any form of criticism, whether it be from our chief justice (who is certainly entitled to publicly question the integrity and constitutional compliance of the legislature and the executive), organised business, the private sector, the global community, our civil society organisations, NGOs or other persons of competence and expertise, reflects an arrogance and conceit within the ANC and its appointees that is becoming unbearable.
On his return from his logistically flawed, costly and diplomatically juvenile mission to Ukraine and Russia, President Cyril Ramaphosa dismissed the grave concern and criticism expressed by South Africans and many nations of the world as a “hullabaloo” and treated it as inconsequential. He boasted that his warm reception in those countries would have favourable consequences and was clearly oblivious to the barely concealed contempt shown by Russian President Vladimir Putin towards the delegates, the frustrated body language of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at their badly timed intrusion, and the embarrassment caused to our own citizens by the shambles of his mission.
The multiple crises in his own country and within the continent of Africa of which he claims to be a senior leader, should have signalled to Ramaphosa that he was in no position to try to take centre stage in the resolution of the Russia/Ukraine conflict.
If the ANC wants to continue its self-anointed status as “leader of SA society” it should include humility as one of the characteristics it requires from its leaders, and reject the opinionated, holier-than-thou, vain leaders and cadres within their party who conflate status with competency, have a false impression of their own value and importance, and continue to live in a state of denial about their own and their party’s dubious international and domestic status, credibility and integrity.
David Gant
Kenilworth
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