In the running, Lindiwe Sisulu. Picture: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters In the running, Lindiwe Sisulu. Picture: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
The ANC has always prided itself as a movement whose actions are guided solely by the highest standard of moral values; by solid principles that were crystallised within the Freedom Charter.
I strongly believe that these guiding principles are as relevant today, as the day they were written, back in 1955 and should be jealously preserved. This is precisely the reason why it pains me so deeply when our veterans and stalwarts whom I regard as an embodiment of these values and principles, are demeaned, ignored and publicly humiliated. Many of us are aware and will forever be beholden to the sacrifices that these individuals have made for the cause of our liberation. Their simple plea to us is not to steer away from the important task of diligently being of service to the people of this country.
The biggest challenge for the ANC of today and its leadership is to introspect so that we can reclaim these values and principles that have guided our movement for so long. We have to humble ourselves and go back to our people and say we have truly heard you and are honestly taking heed of what you are saying to us.
We must say we have heard you when you took to the streets to defend the principles of unity and reconciliation that founded this democracy. We must say we have heard you when you spoke with your votes in the last local government elections. We must say that those alarm bells have sounded as a clear warning that we must not be so arrogant that we forget who we are and who put us in governance; that it was not to satisfy a handful of selfish people that our founding fathers bequeathed us a Freedom Charter whose purpose was, and continues to be: justice, equality, dignity and happiness for all.
As Madiba succinctly put it: “A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens but its lowest.” We dare not allow the trappings of political power to seduce those of us in leadership that we overlook our task of representing the interests of the ordinary citizens of our country.
A lot more still needs to be done to defeat the triple burden of unemployment, poverty and inequality.
Corruption is therefore manifestly a diversion to our central cause to overcome this burden. Our recent policy conference took an admirable decision to strengthen the powers of the ANC integrity committee to enable it to deal efficiently with those members of our organisation who are found to be complicit in acts that compromise the sanctity of our movement.
We need to believe the ANC can be served by cadres who are first and foremost devoted to serving our people. We have to believe the ANC can be led by exemplary leaders who cannot be sucked into a system of greed where money and power are more important than political ideology and political consciousness.
As South Africa was hit by yet another scandalous revelation of the Gupta emails, I made a public call that those top leaders, including our members of cabinet, implicated in this latest saga should be harshly dealt with if proven guilty. I did so precisely because I believe that under no circumstances can we allow our movement to be converted into a “get rich quickly” scheme.
The ANC has a challenge to reclaim those areas that have always been at the heart of our struggle. Since 1994 when we assumed power, the ANC has achieved a lot in our efforts to bring a better life to our people.
A recent survey by Statistics South Africa, for example, found the percentage of households with access to improved services like sanitation has increased consistently from 62.3% in 2002 to 79.5% in 2014. The percentage of households that are connected to electricity supply has increased, with over 2 million households benefiting from indigent support for this electricity; our health services have improved; millions of houses have been provided for the needy; and the lives of our people in urban, peri-urban and rural areas has significantly improved since 1994. All these significant improvements will however come to naught if the ANC fails to restore its moral compass and to deal decisively with corrupt leaders that bring the organisation’s values into disrepute.
We must reclaim leadership on how we will ultimately achieve an inclusive economy and reduce inequality and we must reclaim leadership on how we intend to eradicate unemployment. We must never allow others to opportunistically appropriate these areas of struggle as their own while we quarrel over matters that have no bearing on the improvement of the lives of our people.
As we approach our elective conference in December, these issues should be paramount. Now more than ever we must adopt policies that can bring hope to our people. We must emerge with a leadership capable of uniting our movement as we approach the national elections in 2019. We must emerge with an ANC that is not crushed by personal ambitions, corruption, nefarious and treacherous purposes made behind the backs of the people. We must rebrand, unify and reunite the ANC.
Without a unified ANC, the gains we have made over the past years of our freedom will be lost and the people will be correct to entrust their faith in others.
It’s a must is a clarion call for all South Africans to work together to build on the advances made by the democratic government since 1994.
It is a call to all members of the ANC to remember, advance and translate into action the values and the programmes of this age-old organisation to transform SA into a better place for all.
It is a call to remember our glorious history, the great leaders we have had, the exemplary leadership they gave to this nation and the epochal stages that marked the turning points in our history that brought us to where we are now.
It’s a a reminder to all South Africans of the sacrifices that we have collectively gone through as a people and for us to say we will not allow our country to deteriorate from the values we set. We will not allow this country to be pillaged by anyone from the East or West.
It’s a call to action:
● Act together.
● Act to address poverty.
● Act to make this South Africa a better place.
● Act to secure, in the broadest sense, our people.
● Act to make South Africa safe to live, to work and to invest in.
● Act to play a meaningful role, as we have done in the past, on the global stage.
It’s a call to all of us to resolve to rid ourselves of the rampant corruption in our society, both in the public and private sectors. This corruption is like bone marrow cancer that is gnawing at our values and our wealth. It’s a must that we deal with it decisively.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.