If you spend any time with the ANC, you begin to form a clear picture of its true nature. The party, which has been riding on its liberation credentials for more than 25 years, has had an essential role in the construction of the country. But not all tools in construction have utility beyond the initial demolition of what came before.
The bulldozer for example, is a key tool in the construction of buildings. It removes rubble and clears the ground for new formations. Its role is crucial in the construction process, but is limited to how much rubble needs to be cleared, how much sand needs to be moved.
A wrecking ball is similar in its necessity and limited utility. A wrecking ball has one job — to help destroy what was there before, to assist in the creation of something new and beautiful. After its initial blows it must be retired to allow the construction process to begin.
After spending the last few days in close proximity to the ruling party, it’s clear to me that it is not in a position to build the country it leads. The ANC is a wrecking ball and its time on the construction site of South Africa has passed.
We must give the ANC credit for the work it did in liberating the country. It spent decades chipping away at the exterior of the apartheid regime and, with the assistance of other liberation movements, was able to dismantle it.
The party's time on the construction site of South Africa has passed
From there the ANC tried to transform into a governing party. In part it succeeded, improving access to education for black youth, providing housing for millions of families and creating a new path for the country. The ANC was continuing with much of its original work of dismantling apartheid architecture.
But 28 years into democracy, the ANC has to reform itself from a blunt instrument into a nuanced nation-building machine. It has failed. And who can blame it? The organisation was never created for the purpose it is now trying to achieve. Attempts at transforming from wrecking ball into the brick machine the country needs have not yielded the results the party hoped for.
As the conference drew to a close, the message delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa was a rehash of “renewal” messages communicated at almost every ANC event he has addressed since his presidency began. Over the past few days, the ANC was expected to not only elect new leadership but discuss solutions to some of the pressing concerns facing citizens. On the eve of the conference, amid stage 6 load-shedding, the Eskom CEO announced his resignation.
At Nasrec, the lights remained on for a party disconnected from the issues facing millions of South Africans. The renewal message has not brought concrete solutions to how the party will deal with joblessness, slow economic progress and a rapidly increasing cost of living.
The commissions where many of these issues should have been discussed were poorly attended, with conference delegates focusing on lobbying for positions. Even in the process of selecting candidates for the top leadership, there was no sense of a contestation of ideas. The contests were largely personality focused, with the subtext that those who helped the leadership get elected would benefit by getting into the top seven.
This was most evident in the presidential race, where both candidates should have been disqualified from running based on the Digital Vibes and Phala Phala scandals. Instead, a former minister linked to looting from the state faced off against a president who kept more than $500,000 hidden in his couch, allegedly while holding some buffaloes for a customer. These are not the actions of nation builders.
The party did not even conclude deliberations on policy issues during this conference, instead choosing to postpone remaining discussion to early next year. Few delegates appeared to be concerned with coming up with ideas that would build the nation. Many left the conference early, as soon as the results were announced, to party in the streets surrounding the Nasrec centre. The mood was not that of nation building, nor was the elected leadership the kind that would lift South Africa from the pit of inequality and despair.
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