The phenomenon of leaders who abandon their revolutionary movement to pursue strategies aimed at defeating them is not new in the history of liberation struggles. The MPLA in Angola, Frelimo in Mozambique, Zapu and Zanu in Zimbabwe, and Swapo of Namibia, all have their own chapters of this experience. A case study of this history can enrich revolutionary literature on this subject.
The political about-turn in December 2023 of the former president of the ANC is bound to be intriguing to many onlookers. However, this is a complex ideological outcome far beyond the trials and tribulations of one individual member of the ANC, Jacob Zuma. His political journey is interwoven with the evolution of the ANC after its unbanning in 1990, in particular the changes in our country, society, and the party, occasioned by the very successes of the struggle the ANC waged for liberation. The decision by former president Thabo Mbeki to relieve his then deputy, Zuma, of his responsibilities in 2005 was an important event in this journey.
The struggle waged by the ANC to overthrow apartheid rule was prosecuted on four fronts: (i) the armed campaign of Umkhonto weSizwe (MK); (ii) the ANC underground structures, (iii) the mass front, (iv) and international solidarity. All these were of equal value to the success of the struggle. ANC cadres, senior and junior, involved in this work under the directorship of the politico-military council, belonged to one or the other of these sectors.
It may be an interesting puzzle to many that Zuma was never part of the leadership of the ANC’s military wing, MK, which he has come out of retirement to reincarnate today. During the Truth and Reconciliation Commission the ANC deposited information about members who constituted its leadership structures at different times, in different sectors and activities, over the ages. Zuma was never a member of the military headquarters of MK.
This is not to say Zuma did not perform valuable and heroic work in the ANC. What is puzzling is his sudden glorification of the military, contrary to his own legacy in the ANC. The military was the cutting edge of the struggle for freedom but not the only critical or strategic endeavour in defeating apartheid rule. His singing of the MK song, Awulethe Umshini wami, as his signature tune is a subtle attempt to embed himself within the community of former MK members. It is a strange attempt at rewriting history, because it minimises the valuable political underground work he performed throughout his political life in the ANC. The question is why?
Zuma was elected the deputy secretary-general of the ANC at the first national conference of the ANC after its unbanning in July 1991. This wa in a desperate intervention by the ANC-PNYC (the ANC Provisional National Youth Council), the forerunner to the ANC Youth League of today, after the youth contingent’s candidate for the secretary-general’s position, Alfred Nzo, lost the contest badly to Cyril Ramaphosa.
It was the view of the PNYC that the leadership of the ANC should include leaders who had been outside the country for three decades. The other important consideration was that the PNYC appreciated the need to strengthen the mass front to secure the party’s strategic breakthrough of 1994. Knowing that Zuma as a member of the Internal Political Construction Committee was predisposed to leaders of the internal mass organisations, the youth thought he would be more suitable than the other leaders of MK.
To be true to its origins, to renew itself, the ANC must stand firm for justice, be selfless, display the resolve for self-sacrifice and love for the people
The sacred ground rule in Umkhonto weSizwe, which all its members were taught, is that MK was established to advance the political goals of the ANC — it does not have its own political programme. It only implements what the ANC-NEC instructs the military wing to do. In the relationship between the military and politics, MK members knew that politics came first.
It is against MK traditions, values and norms for any member of MK to seek to act politically outside the legitimate political leadership of the ANC. MK members in good standing will always seek to fight their battles on political issues under the leadership of the ANC. Hostile mobilisation against the ANC under the banner of Umkhonto weSizwe is a shockingly ill-advised strategy.
The popularity of MK in South Africa was a result of the blood spilt by members of the ANC in pursuit of freedom for our land. Some of their families have yet to see the remains of their loved ones buried in South African soil.
Zuma’s December divorce papers served on the ANC say his decision to dissociate from the ANC is because “the organisation that [he] has served for six decades has changed into an organisation that [he] no longer [can] recognise.” To expect that after three extraordinary decades of South Africa’s transformative policies, the ANC could possibly remain the same is ahistorical and unscientific, a point he seems not to appreciate as a “critical former social reformer”.
His submission is a subjective sentimental lamentation devoid of any disciplined and honest desire to find solutions to the problems he claims are troubling him. The challenges of the South African struggle for a better life for all, are difficult and diverse and require honest and dedicated leaders. To suggest that the solutions are easy is dishonest, and smacks of populist self-gratification. This will cause a great deal of harm to the country.
To be true to its origins, to renew itself, the ANC must stand firm for justice, be selfless, display the resolve for self-sacrifice and love for the people. If it doesn’t, the people will not recognise the ANC for what it was. The ANC has made this admission in numerous resolutions at its last two national conferences. In this regard, Zuma knows he has a great deal to account for, and the differences between the ANC and its former president have finally proved to be irreconcilable.
The list of Zuma’s infractions are chronicled by Ronnie Kasrils in his book A Simple Man — Kasrils and the Zuma enigma. Zuma’s personal impact on the ANC during his presidency included cardinal mistakes the harm of which may endure well into the future.
As an institution the ANC was founded on the abiding principle of unity. Its birth signalled the birth of South Africa’s black nation in the context of colonial conquest, as articulated by Pixley ka Isaka Seme’s plea in 1911 during preparations for the formation of the ANC, when he said: “The demon of racialism, the aberrations of the Xhosa-Fingo feud, the animosity that exists between Zulus and the Tsongas, between Basutos and every other Native, must be buried and forgotten... We are one people.” This resolve reverberates in ANC structures to this day. It is an incontrovertible historical fact that the ANC proceeded to deliver a unified nonracial South African nation in 1994.
Contrary to this legacy, during his presidency Zuma watched and allowed a campaign of ethnic chauvinism to rage in the ANC under the slogan “100% Zulu-Boy”, largely driven by his kinsmen in violation of the sacred commitment of ANC members to eschew ethnic divisions to advance the primary mission of the national liberation revolution, nation-building. He introduced a counterrevolutionary script in which political leaders subtly resort to profiling their ethnic identities in order to grow support out of the apolitical blood consanguinity of traditional communities. This regression in our national cohesion is fraught with unimaginable consequences for the future. It is a sad reversal of history.
What does Zuma’s departure mean to the ANC? Some commentators believe it signals the further decline of the ANC. Maybe... However, the other way of looking at this question is whether the ANC renewal was realistically possible with Zuma in the house. Zuma’s ride into the sunset may signify the jettisoning of baggage that was sinking the ANC ship. This may be the opportunity for this ship to happily and safely sail to the shores.
• Thabang Makwetla is the deputy minister of defence and military veterans
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