ANC at its weakest today – Mantashe

Johannesburg – ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe says the ANC is at its weakest today.

"People celebrate a weak ANC, but will find out sooner or later that a strong ANC is good for the country," said Mantashe.

"When everybody sits back and waits for the ANC to take up the struggles in society, then it [ANC] is at its weakest and that is the situation today," Mantashe said on Wednesday.

He was addressing the annual Black Management Forum (BMF) conference in Midrand, Johannesburg, where he asked members of the BMF to lead transformation in the workplace.

He also gave his own views on the current state of the ANC, where it was failing, and possible solutions to remedy the situation. He said, in the past, the party had known that when it was going through difficult times it could depend on the BMF.

He told guests at the conference that the 104-year-old movement was going through a problematic period, with some even questioning whether it still had the capacity to lead.

He went on to ask the organisation to provide solutions, stating that the BMF needed to save the ANC and the country, using the intellectual capacity of its members. Mantashe emphasised that the party needed to reconnect with progressive forces and even encouraged guests at the event to call the ANC often.

'Colour revolution'

Mantashe said the ruling party was also struggling due to its own successes and victories.

"What we have done wrong is that we created a society that is very passive, that is waiting for delivery. The demand is free this, free that."

The ANC secretary general also addressed the issue of regime change, saying it was a fact that western forces removed democratically-elected governments when they failed to comply.

He said that in South Africa there were signs of a colour revolution. He said the signs included agitation and discontent aimed at instilling anger in society to create protest, which eventually led to a revolt.

Mantashe said it was not only important to monitor the sponsors of discontent in the country, but to also avoid own goals, which the party needed to strengthen itself against internally. This included corruption and what he called accidental succession.

"Corruption is no longer imagined, there is a lot of corruption and there is a lot of looting," said Mantashe.

On the succession issue, he said the process of who should take over as leader of the party was not being managed properly, with a lot of jostling for positions taking place.

"Every day there is a new candidate. You head to 2017 and it is a stampede."

This article first appeared on News24.