Since the election of President Jacob Zuma as the President of the African National Congress and the country a certain very unfortunate and undesirable culture has now come to the fore. I should not be misunderstood to say that it was not there under the previous administration as it is under the former Mbeki administration that this culture was in fact born. Members of the ruling party, hanger ons, sycophants and other elements have come into the open to grab state resources in the name of the poor. White liquor companies, the British and German car manufacturers and others are having a field day harvesting profits as a result of expensive liquor, clothing and of course top of the range Mercs, Range Rovers and other brand names that blacks "in politics" splurge on,
It is a very sad indictment to all of us and a grave insult to the majority who consistently queue during election time to vote for the African National Congress but are immediately discarded and forgotten after the elections. What is even more insulting is the fact that the looting of state resources is even done in the name of the poor. This phenomenon is strange to the ANC that I joined in the late 80's when I was still a teenager. The ANC that I joined was banned and its members and their families constantly harassed and arrested. I should know because my two brothers were "terrorists" and the police were constant visitors to my family home to look for them and harass my mother.
Like most people who genuinely loved the prospects of liberation I never in my wildest dreams envisaged that when we are ultimately free this organization will owe me a tender or a job. In fact the ANC that I know taught us to give and to work for the benefit of the whole community. It taught me generosity that makes it impossible for me to come home in my expensive German car, start a party and enjoy whilst my neighbours have nothing to eat. I fondly remember when we used to sing: "An injury to one, is an injury to all" and we really meant it in every respect,
What we have been seeing in the public platform recently is unjustifiable. I take the point that the organization had to transform on assuming power from a liberation movement and further that our first real encounter with economic wealth was bound to have terrible side effects but what we have is worse. In fact instead of the actual fruits of transition taking centre stage, the side effects public looting, tenderpreneurship, welfarism and the general culture of entitlement has taken over. Nowadays people are no longer joining the ANC to serve but so that they can have their turn in the looting process,
The kind of cadre that we have in the ANC today are mainly criminals in GUCCI, PRADA and other brands. Membership of the ANC has now been turned into a "heavenly" exclusive club of the chosen few and is centred around a collection of few interest groups who will not even tell you what the values of the ANC are. It is no longer, for them, the ANC that must serve and lead the people but it is now the one that serves onself and mislead the rest and more particularly the poor. This is a huge shame and an insult to the Ting-Tings and Tambo's of the organization who sacrificed all they had to fight for our liberation,
We have become the laughing stock of the white capital. When the organization took power there was the noble idea of BEE. In a rush to ensure that selfish interests are served BEE has turned out to be the worse form of sell out by our organization. Today we have people having designations in big companies without even having a clue as to what the company does. Their only claim to fame is membership of the organization, whose values that have clearly eschewed. Ask them how many black people were employed in the companies in which they are the so called BEE partner or they are managing and they will look at you as if you just arrived from another planet. This is a shame,
Look at some of the so called young entrepreneurs ( tenderpreneurs) within the ranks of the organization and more particularly the ANCYL. They drive around in towns (you see villages are no longer fit for them) in expensive European models proclaiming themselves to be businesspeople. Ask them what business they are in and record the answer. They say laughter is the best medicine and they will never fail to provide you with this kind of medicine I promise you. Do not even bother to ask where their offices are because that expensive restaurant you met them at is in fact the other office apart from the expensive car. This is not what the ANC meant by economic emancipation. When the ANC said there should be economic transformation it meant that:-
1. We will create our own brand of moral, grounded and responsible cadre of businesspeople,
2. Businesspeople who will invest in the sustainability of their businesses,
3. Those who will, as it is their patriotic duty, create jobs and employ the less fortunate,
4. Those who will adopt their neighbour's child and pay for his educational tuition with the understanding that they have a duty to invest in the next generation and that the success of the next generation is non-negotiably their responsibility,
5. Those that do not seek to be centres of attention because they drink the most expensive brand of whisky( there is apparently a prominent member of the ANC in Limpopo who says he does not commit statutory rape: meaning that any whisky that is less than 16 years old is not in his league) and drive expensive cars
Aside from creating a sustainable and responsible cadre of businesspeople the ANC's economic transformation agenda sought to create and make available opportunities in strategic centres of the economy including private owned businesses, for a responsible cadre of managers, executives and directors who will understand that whenever they are deployed in any industry, parastatal or institution (whether directly or otherwise) they are not there to serve themselves. That they are also not there to change and suddenly become white but that they are there to continue the struggle that started in 1912 and even before to emancipate their own. Further that their transformational responsibilities being a role model to the youth aspiring for success in life,
The current crop of some of the so called leaders and entrepreneurs fail dismally in that score. In fact they have succeed in distorting the correct aims and objectives of the economic transformation agenda of the ANC. They mainly have adopted the white culture to boot, including retaining white lawyers and doctors when the need for such services arise. This is a form of self rejection and is very unfortunate. Their kinds are also taught to be fake little black whites: even at home where everybody speaks the same indigenous language English is a compulsory language. It is rather unfortunate and this is mainly fuelled by the confusion between the ability to speak English with an accent and actual intelligence,
This is not what the ANC struggled and fought for and this is certainly not what liberation means,
Going back to the subject of looting it is rather sad that we no longer need the ID, DA, COPE (are they coping really?) and other reactionaries to police us and point accusing fingers at us. The current crop of leadership in the ANC and the alliance can manage well without them, thank you. In fact the reactionaries might be a little bit envious of the skilful way in which members of the ANC and the alliance has mastered the art of mudslinging. It is sad and this ANC I do not know,
In fact when you look around since the Mbeki era the ANC and the alliance are divided into two groups: the privileged and the disgruntled. The privileged are the ones that are in favour with the reigning administration and the disgruntled are the ones who suddenly have tenders drying up on them. It is a shame and this ANC I do not know,
Take for example a group of "businesspersons" from Limpopo who reportedly recently called a meeting. Apparently on their agenda was the fact that the President of the Youth League and his cronies were coining it on tenders to their exclusion. Proposed way forward: they will be marching to the Premier's Office to hand in a memorandum of grievances because "They fingered Mathale (Limpopo Premier) for bowing down to Malema and his allies while they are NO LONGER (my own emphasis) businesses and complained that their families are starving as a result thereof". They are further quoted in a local newspaper to be saying "We are tired of you Premier, we are hungry and we demand that you listen. Our families are hungry but Malema, Lebogo and their allies are getting all tenders in the province. We are going to protest and we are not afraid". As we say in my profession: I rest my case. This ANC I do not know,
As they say do not blame the player blame the game. It is clear that this group falls under the categories of the new cadre ( I am not even sure the word cadre is a correct characterization) that has emerged in the ANC which clearly misunderstand what the agenda of economic transformation means. The ANC that some of us loves dearly is under attack and its attackers are in certain cases part of the leadership. In several discussions that I had with other members who has decided to stand aside and watch I have reprimanded them and myself for exactly doing that: abandoning the organization when it needs us most. Not only that society at large needs positive role models and I am not sure we have them at the moment,
In the current political context education means nothing. In fact I had an interesting discussion recently with a comrade and colleague who was told that his education means nothing because in any event " wa sokola". It is really very sad. What the current generation of leaders does not seem to realize is that each generation creates and leaves a legacy for the forthcoming generation. Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine this country ten years from now and see only chaos. Following the logic of the current generation as represented by the fellow who told my colleague that " wa sokola" it means we should all drop out of school, join the ANCYL, make a lot of noise and become shallow millionaires through government tenders. I shudder even contemplating that possibility,
People are free to choose their lifestyles but it is when this is done in the name of a noble organization like the ANC that I have a problem because that ANC I do not know. The saddest thing about the culture of opulence, obscene consumerism and materialism currently occupying the national conscience and the ANC and alliance structures is that it is not only unsustainable, self-serving, insulting to the poor masses but that the ultimate beneficiaries of this largesse is ultimately white capital. They provide all the material symbols of this new form of "success".
We need a radical rethink of how we conduct ourselves and most importantly for us members of the ANC we need to go back to the real values of the Freedom Charter, the sense of closing rank with our communities and the injury to one, injury to all mentality.
The battle for emancipation has not been won but is being distorted by us within the ranks of the organization to the detriment of all of us and more particular the poor and the marginalized,
Aluta Continua,
Dinga R Nkhwashu is a Practising Attorney and Consultant in Limpopo Province
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