In an important contribution to national debate on a most critical issue, "Something greater than oneself", Thula Bopela asked the question of questions. The posing of this question comes from a veteran of the Luthuli Battalion who fought as a soldier of Umkhonto we Sizwe in the Wankie campaign in Zimbabwe in 1967, was captured in battle and sentenced to death, was reprieved and served more than ten years in prison, and many years later played a crucial role in helping to end the civil war in KwaZulu-Natal, a vital precondition of the first democratic elections in April 1994.
Mr Bopela's book, Umkhonto we Sizwe: Fighting for a Divided People (Galago, Alberton, 2005), co-authored with his comrade from the Wankie campaign, Daluxolo Luthuli, is an essential autobiographical source in modern South African history, to be read and studied.
His question is this: "Joining the ANC in the 60s demanded service and sacrifice. It was something far greater than the people who joined it. This ANC now has become a vehicle to power and wealth....Can the ANC redeem itself from the malady that afflicts it today, the malady of self-aggrandizement?"
As can be seen from the comments at the foot of Mr Bopela's article, there are many different responses to this question.
I wish to propose another.
For me, the malady of self-aggrandizement was as inevitable as the change of seasons, once the ANC and the National Party in secret discussions during formulation of the Interim Constitution removed constituency accountability from the proposed Electoral Law, and set in place the despotic instrument of the party-list.