Reading about the ANC's Mangaung Conference from Los Angeles in December, it suddenly struck me that all ANC conferences are named after places, never policies.
One would have thought that the National Development Plan would take centre stage and usurp the name Mangaung. Not so. Just as Sharpeville, Boipathong, Bisho and now Marikana have become euphemisms for heinous massacres, so Polokwane, Mangaung and other conference names have become euphemisms for the political machinations of the ruling elite.
Instead of promoting nation building and development of the poor, these place names symbolise destruction, political infighting and naked ambition.
What's in a name one might ask? A lot, I reckon. It often masks a multitude of sins and is an excuse to sidestep essential policy matters that will lead to the creation of wealth, jobs and employment.
A deconstruction of these conferences from the one to the next, exposes these gatherings for what they are - political charades and pretences that governance is taking place when in fact they are leadership battles about the control and ownership of the economy.
Much is invested in pre-conference lobbying and the conflict between the factions and regions have become bloody. The battles amongst delegates demonstrate frighteningly what the ANC is capable of should their hegemony be threatened.
Hundreds of ‘comrades' have died in political assassinations in the run up to Mangaung. These have become commonplace but are hardly investigated by the police. The New York Times reports (30 Nov 2012) that,
Amid rising corruption and waning economic opportunities, political killings are on the rise. Here in KwaZulu-Natal Province, nearly 40 politicians have been killed since 2010 in battles over political posts, more than triple the number in the previous three years, according to government figures. Over the past few years, dozens more have been killed in provinces like Mpumalanga, North West and Limpopo.
Party loyalists are richly rewarded, while those who dare to dissent are more likely to end up in the political wilderness. It is only after the president wins, that serious matters such as nationalisation, land reform, job creation, and foreign policy get put on the table.
It is for this reason that South Africans should find a way to scupper this culture of wheeling and dealing and demand a say in who gets elected. The public needs an opportunity to question the candidates as they do in American elections and demand that politicians contest ideas and policies and account to the public through an electoral system that truly epitomises representative democracy.
These conferences are the primitive accumulation of our taxes and are hardly ever about how to improve public services and lift people out of poverty. They give substance to the US' Queen of the Night's sage words: "a politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country."
Many ANC comrades have also become the casualties of foraging at the trough. As much as they acquire power through patronage, they can just as easily be destroyed by it. Julius Malema, Carl Niehaus, Yolanda Botha, Schabir and Chippy Shaikh, and many others, come to mind.
Equally corruption is a ticket for the upwardly mobile, especially if the corrupt remains loyal to the ruling elite. Baleka Mbete, who acquired a fraudulent car license, for example, climbed the ladder from MP to Deputy Speaker, to Speaker, and to Deputy President, while her whistle blower, died in absolute penury.
As for convicted fraudster Tony Yengeni, say no more. One cannot help but be cynical about politicians who, as Aesop so wisely said: while we hang the petty thieves, we appoint the great ones to public office.
This article first appeared in Die Burger
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