Bayanda Mzoneli for ANC Deputy President 2022

Within the ANC, it is regarded as foreign, and uncouth, for a candidate to openly declare their availability and campaign for themselves. After all it is ANC branches that, after careful consideration of draft resolutions, nominate the fitting leadership to implement the adopted resolutions, once adopted.

But times are changing. For the first time, in the 2011 Local Government Elections, the ANC introduced a process where the candidates nominated by a branch should present themselves to the community of the ward they want to be candidates of, in order for the community to participate in the selection of the ANC ward candidate, beyond the ANC members of the branch. This was in recognition of the challenge where some candidates put forward by the ANC were rejected by the community, and some who were rejected by the ANC were accepted by the community and won the ward after standing as independent by candidates.

Towards the 1994 elections, the two debates between FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela were the first, and last public debates among Presidential candidates for office in democratic elections in South Africa.

There are many good reason why in it is not in the ANC tradition for candidates to declare their availability and campaign for themselves. Some reasons are from the past, given that the organisation operated underground at some point. But other reasons relate to desirable traits of leadership. Leadership that is not entitled, is not populist, humble and appreciated by the members who do the nomination, is regarded as desirable. However, only a stubborn few would deny that the gap between the ANC’s tradition on nominating leadership and the actual practice of it has widened since around 2007, at all levels.

Leaders do campaign for themselves covertly, and lately even overtly, through events that get organised by their supporters. It can be debated whether the campaigns take place before or after the official nomination process opens, but it happens.

The much quoted, but rarely followed, Through the Eye of the Needle made interesting observations as early as over 20 years ago, “Media focus on government and the ANC as a ruling party also means that individuals appointed into various positions are able to acquire a public profile in the course of their work. As such, over time, they become the visible members who would get nominated for leadership positions. This is a natural expression of confidence and helps to widen the base from which leaders are elected. However, where such practice becomes the main and only criterion, hard-working individuals who do not enjoy such profile get overlooked.”

It further made an observation, that might be most relevant to some who are likely to comment on this article, “Related to the above is the danger arising out of the fact that executive positions in government are by appointment. This can have the effect of stifling frank, honest and self-critical debate within the ranks of the movement. This is because some individuals may convince themselves that, by pretending to be what they are not, and being seen to agree with those in authority all the time, they would then be rewarded with appointment into senior government positions.”

There is a national, and perhaps, global consensus that South Africa is at the crossroads. Despite the progress made since 1994, SA faces a myriad of challenges that are most evident in poverty, unemployment and inequality. A visionary, and decisive, leadership is required to halt the challenges from getting worse, while also addressing them with a mix of medium and long-term interventions.

The past 15 years have provided sufficient evidence that slogans such as Thuma Mina, RET, Abantu Bathi, Renewal and others do not prove really helpful at governance time. The argument that leadership is elected to implement Conference resolutions no longer holds. Evidence shows that leaders, and their collectives, tend to prioritise the implementation of resolutions differently, and it does not help that some resolutions are usually non-specific enough to be indistinguishable from lack of implementation. Sloganeering relies on factions or slates to allege commitments on behalf of candidates – earning them plausible deniability – and also decampaign opponents through smear and canards.

Some campaigns rely heavily on vilification, with no workable solutions, outside of slogans. The racialised inequality is known. But no leader in the ANC, nor opposition, has proposed a workable solution for deracialisation and reducing inequality. The emphasis is on workable.

Because leaders never make explicit commitments on the basis of which they should be elected, they usually rely on claiming any progress that happens during their term as proof of their delivery record, and blame all failures or lack of progress to external factors, sometimes rightly but sometimes wrongly, as an escape from accountability.

Over and above the Conference resolutions, candidates should share their comprehension of the challenges facing the country and the remedies they intend to implement under the prevailing constraints. Naturally, such engagement would not be at a tangent to the ANC’s own, but it would seek to demonstrate the depth of understanding and make commitments that can be the basis of removal if unfulfilled.

Credentials and one’s track record, will remain an important element in choosing leaders. So will be the qualifications, as first introduced into ANC practice with the selection of candidate mayors for local government. Another element that is becoming increasingly important is the vision, given that election of leaders is about the future, rather than the past. That is why some who have supported leaders with impeccable records are often later disappointed when their expectations, though unstated, are unmet.

In this regard, I would like to invite the candidates who wish to avail themselves for ANC Deputy President to a public debate, prior to nominations officially opening in August 2022, so that when they open, members can nominate after being empowered with information. Branches need not rely only on factionalists, paid lobbyists, or prospective beneficiaries of patronage to know which leader to nominate for what position.

The public debate can be structured to focus on a handful of specific themes, be timed and hosted by Dr JJ Tabane, Sakina Kamwendo, or another knowledgeable news anchor. It can be hosted on any media platform, though SABC would be preferred because of its reach. Depending on the number of candidates who come forward, the debate need not be longer than 90 minutes.

Such a debate is not prohibited in the ANC, it is just regarded as uncouth. It thus unlikely to be regarded as misconduct, except by those who may stretch the code of conduct clauses to try and fit it. Therefore there is no rational reason why those who may be available to be ANC Deputy President would shy away from such a debate, unless they are timid of publicly making commitments that they would be held accountable for once elected.

Obviously, an ANC Deputy President serves as part of the collective. Any prospective candidate would know this and have the wisdom to discern what commitments are they able to make. Hiding behind collective responsibility to avoid a public debate with peers would be intellectual laziness.

The proposal of a public debate is self-serving for the prospective ANC Deputy President candidate proposing it. With little to no public profile to leverage, no power patronage to promise, and zero budget, there are little prospects the name of this candidate would make it to the 55^th National Conference ballot paper without some ingenuity.

The ANC 54^th National Conference resolved that, “The Election Commission ensure that those contesting leadership positions declare their interests, including the amount and sources of money for campaigning, in line with ANC Finance Policies and Code of Ethics. Also deal with conflict of interest issues in candidate selection of public office.” It remains to be seen whether candidates for the ANC Deputy President, and other candidates, will implement this ANC Conference resolution. It does not seem to have been implemented in regional and provincial congresses thus far.

As the Through the Eye of the Needle also warned, “The selection and election of leaders should reside firmly in the hands of the membership. This can only happen if there is open and frank discussion on these issues in formal structures of the movement. Quiet and secret lobbying opens the movement to opportunism and even infiltration by forces hostile to the ANC’s objectives.” But unlike in 2001, discussions should go beyond formal structures even though the election will remain with formal structures.

The alternative to open campaigning and the proposed public debate is the retention of what the 54^th National Conference observed in its resolutions, that, “The current distortion of our election process through factional practices like slates, vote-buying, patronage, intimidation, and exclusion that deny us the best possible collectives of leaders.” Slates and factions play a pivotal role in shielding visionless leaders from expressing their true intentions of making themselves available for election to leadership.

Bayanda Mzoneli is an ANC member at King Nyabela Mahlangu Branch in Greater Tshwane Region. He is one of the prospective candidates for ANC Deputy President at the 55^th National Conference in December 2022.

NB: This article first appears on the Sunday Times on 26 June 2022 – https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/opinion-and-analysis/opinion/2022-06-26-a-challenge-to-anc-candidates-to-debate-why-they-should-be-chosen/

In Catholic tradition, the purgatory “is the state of those who die in God’s friendship, assured of their eternal salvation, but who still have need of purification to enter into the happiness of heaven.” Catholics maintain that, “because of the communion of saints, the faithful who are still pilgrims on earth are able to help the souls in purgatory by offering prayers in suffrage for them, especially the Eucharistic sacrifice. They also help them by almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance.”

The ANC and, since it claims to be a microcosm of society, the society, is in a transition. For most of the post-1994 period, as the cancer of unethical conduct continued to grow within the ANC, and society. The multicultural nature of SA society meant that there were, and still are, gray areas in which there was no universal agreement, and by extension condemnation, of certain types of conduct.

This problem was compounded by that unethical or immoral conduct was subject to subjective lenses employed by the ever changing factions within the ANC, and their, wittingly or unwittingly, accompanying media sympathisers.

As a result, for most of the time, the cancer worsened. The only universally accepted determinant of misconduct were formal tribunals internal to organisations, or the courts of law. As long as a person was not convicted, they were innocent and could be treated as innocent no matter the allegations against them.

But as things got worse, and with it the condemnations, a combination of factors conspired to mark a turning point. For the ANC, the 53^rd National Conference in 2012 took a decision to establish an integrity committee. For society, cancel culture got to SA shores. Though differently applied, and by different actors, both these mean that a conviction by a court of law, or a formal organisational tribunal, is no longer the only determinant of guilt or innocence of one.

Cancel culture has resulted in people losing their ability to earn to a living, or having such ability diminished. An allegation is made, followed by outrage, outrage leads to action by either employers or business associates of the accused. While it might have its place as an instrument of accountability, cancel culture does not always have the sense of proportionality. The consequence does not always match the alleged transgression, it usually errs on the side of disproportion. It also tends to no have clear nor fair process of verifying the veracity of the accusation. The other effect of cancel culture is eternal punishment, with little to no opportunity to serve a time-bound punishment or rehabilitate and repent.

For the ANC, the process that was intended with the establishment of the integrity committee continues to evolve. The 55^th National Conference in 2017 further refined a decision on leaders having to step-aside when criminally charged.

Most of these developments are perhaps necessary to pull society back from the direction it seemed to be headed. But as it often is the case, in SA the pendulum tends to swing too far from end to end.

There is a growing category of people whom after the allegations are made against them are left in the equivalent of a purgatory, where they are neither innocent nor guilty. Often they are also not on trial in any court of law nor organisational disciplinary structures, meaning they do not have an imminent possibility to have the allegations against them tested so that they are cleared or convicted. In this state of being uninnocent, they are condemned to eternally suffer, since prospects of earning a living are diminished, as anyone who associates with them may be accused of overlooking the allegations against them. This allegations limbo is populated by people from everywhere, including politics, business, government, unions, etc.

But unlike the souls in the purgatory, no one can atone for the people who are in the allegations limbo. Some are permanently condemned to remain in it for the remainder of their lives. Their careers are dead. Even those who might be eventually cleared, after a lengthy stay in allegations limbo, would still be regarded as uncouth by those who may doubt the process that cleared them.

Some allegations may start as harmless office or social media gossip, and grow into newspaper headlines, that force the hand of those the accused is associated with. The accused has no practical means of responding to the allegations. In the eyes of many, they will remain guilty until, they die.

For disambiguation, there are those who deliberately escape justice, by resigning from organisations or institutions that have the possibility to adjudicate on their innocence or guilt moments before the process is instituted. Most of the people who do that do not deserve any sympathy, with a few exceptions where the adjudication process would have been unfair or had a predetermined outcome.

Of course matters such as these are of little concern to most people, until the day allegations, founded or unfounded, eventually engulf them. Some of those who are lucky enough to never have such a misfortune may never have an opportunity to truly reflect on the matter, including considering how things could be done differently to lessen the suffering of those who encounter the misfortune of being in the allegations limbo. Instead a few of them will continue to mercilessly lynch those whom against allegations are made.

Sometimes the lynching is worthwhile, particularly where allegations are of serious transgressions such as rape and gender based violence, where public support may aid victims. But other times, the lynching, without verification is undue.

Hopefully, as societal ethical and moral suasions continue to evolve, society will soon get to the equilibrium that will depopulate the allegations purgatory, and the accused can either be cleared and get their lives back or be convicted and serve the sentence proportionate to their transgressions.

Bayanda Mzoneli is a public servant. He writes in his personal capacity

NB: This article first appeared on City Press on 21 November 2021 – https://www.news24.com/citypress/voices/bayanda-mzoneli-allegations-limbo-where-careers-go-to-die-20211121

The ANC 54^th National Conference noted, among others;

“An increase in corruption, factionalism, dishonesty, and other negative practices that seriously threaten the goals and support of the ANC. That these practices contradict and damage our mission to serve the people and use the country’s resources to achieve development and transformation. That corruption robs our people of billions that could be used for their benefit.

That the lack of integrity perceived by the public, has seriously damaged the ANC’s image, the people’s trust in the ANC, our ability to occupy the moral high ground, and our position as leader of society. That current leadership structures seem helpless to arrest these practices, either because they lack the means or the will, or are themselves held hostage by them.

At times we do things that are not according to ANC or government policy, or not legal or constitutional, and wait for courts to correct our actions. Our association with, and the closeness of our leaders to, business people facing allegations of corruption.”

The ANC did not wake up to these developments in 2017 at its 54^th National Conference.

Just after the dawn of democracy it observed these negative tendencies, captured by President Mandela in the Political Report to the 50^th National Conference held in 1997.

“Remarkably, it would seem that our very victory over white minority rule has created the basis for some among us to take advantage of the new political opportunities the people’s triumph has created, to work for the weakening and destruction of this very movement, the ANC.

We say this because a number of negative features within the ANC and the broad democratic movement have emerged during the last three years. We have an inescapable responsibility to attend to these matters frankly and decisively in defence of both our movement and our revolution.

One of these negative features is the emergence of careerism within our ranks. Many among our members see their membership of the ANC as a means to advance their personal ambitions to attain positions of power and access to resources for their own individual gratification.

Accordingly, they work to manipulate the movement to create the conditions for their success. In reality, during the last three years, we have found it difficult to deal with such careerists in a decisive manner. We, ourselves, have therefore allowed the space to emerge for these opportunists to pursue their counter-revolutionary goals, to the detriment of our movement and struggle.

During this period, we have faced various instances of corruption involving our own members, including those who occupy positions of authority by virtue of the victory of the democratic revolution.  These have sought either to steal public resources or to export financial tributes from the people in return for services to which the people are entitled and which those in authority are legally and morally obliged to provide.

This is not surprising in the light of what we have already said in this report about the entrenchment of corruption in our society in general and the consequent desperate desire to accumulate wealth in the shortest possible period of time.”

In spite of his optimism at the time, twenty years later, the situation did not improve.

In the intervening period between the 50^th and 54^th National Conferences, the ANC continued to observe the accumulation of negative tendencies. These it characterized as “sins of incumbency” in discussion documents towards the 2010 National General Council (NGC). The 2010 NGC Discussion Document titled “Leadership Renewal, Discipline and Organizational Culture”, highlighted that “These tendencies have become so persistent and widespread that they in fact represent a shadow culture and subcultures, which co-exist alongside what the movement always stood for. It draws on ANC history and symbolism and like a parasite, uses the membership, and the very democratic structures and processes of the movement, to its own end. Furthermore, both ‘old ‘and ‘new ‘members and leadership echelons at all levels are involved, increasingly leaving no voice in our ranks able to provide guidance.”

In spite of the comprehensive assessment and self-reflection made in the 2010 NGC, a snowball of negative tendencies grew in size and speed. It picked up all “sins of incumbency” in its path, and became an insurmountable avalanche. The 54^th National Conference noted that, “current leadership structures seem helpless to arrest these practices, either because they lack the means or the will, or are themselves held hostage by them.”

It may be speculated that one of the contributing factors that allowed the cancer of corruption to fester was the reliance on codified statutory provisions. Thus unless, or until, a member had transgressed the code of conduct and referred to the disciplinary committee, they were innocent no matter how grave the allegations implicating them may be. Furthermore, unless or until, a member had been convicted by a court of law, and exhausted all possible appeals, they were innocent no matter how grave the charges against them in an ongoing court trial.

In one view, this may be perceived as lack of accountability by those accused, due to their failure to take responsibility for their (alleged) actions and distance the organisation from their deviant behavior, at least until they have cleared themselves. However, if the ANC is an organisation of activists, one of the defining traits of the members would be fighting injustice, including against oneself. Hence the reliance on justice as codified in statutory provisions of law or the code of conduct.

Many have abused the codified statutory provisions that define justice to evade accountability, as much as is legally possible.

On the other hand “an increase in corruption, factionalism, dishonesty” observed by the 54^th National Conference meant that had it been allowed that an allegation be a sufficient reason to take punitive measures, canards could have been sown about opponents in a way that would have been destructive to the organisation, especially using the gullible media.

For two decades, the ANC relied on that with sufficient mourning about sins of incumbency, its members would miraculously grow a conscience to behave ethically, and in spite of that there was no codified code of ethics.

Other than the multiple organs of state that were setup to fight corruption, the ANC only first took action in 2012, at its 53^rd National Conference, when it setup an Integrity Committee. Unfortunately, the parameters of integrity that this committee would have to protect were never codified, thus leaving it with no teeth, and its actions subject to debate.

However, the ethical tectonic plates are shifting.

By historical coincidence, the 54^th National Conference took three resolutions that happen to intersect in a way that places the ANC at the crossroads. These are;

• “Implement the NEC resolution on state capture, including the expeditious establishment of a Judicial Commission of Enquiry.[1]
• The establishment, composition, powers and functions of the Integrity Commission should be provided for in the ANC Constitution, to be finalized as soon as possible by the NEC.[2]
• Mandates the NEC to drive a sustained programme of organisational renewal and report on such to the NGC.”

At face value, the resignation of the Minister of Finance on Monday, 8^th October 2018, may have set a precedence, or standard that would need to be upheld, or improved, by other ANC leaders. Particularly those that may appear in the same Judicial Commission that the former Minister of Finance had appeared in. What makes the development even more significant is that the Zondo Commission has an intended lifespan that goes up to 2020, which covers what is likely to be one of the most difficult elections for the organisation.

In the public domain, if the other possible conspiracy theories are discounted, the Minister of Finance resigned following his apology for an error of judgment of agreeing to meet a vilified, but not convicted family of business people at their residence a handful of times.

Had the ANC moved quickly on the establishment, composition, powers and functions of the Integrity Commission and driven a sustained programme of organisational renewal, it could have developed a perspective on the Judicial Commission on State Capture. This would have helped guide its cadres in handling the evidence emerging from the commission.

The failure of the ANC NEC to timely develop a perspective on the Zondo Commission have left a climate of uncertainty for its leaders on how to handle evidence led in the Zondo Commission. And whether to expect the same standard set by the former Minister of Finance.

Without preempting the outcomes of the Zondo Commission, the evidence that is led in it is likely to broadly fall into 5 categories in terms of its implications for cadres of the ANC, as in the table below.

	Category	Description	Appropriate Action
1	The Clean	Those who are neither affected nor implicated	None
2	The Good	Those who were approached but refused or never to cooperated	None
3	The Dirty	Those who may be implicated due to having enabled corruption by commission or omission but did not benefit in any way. They executed instructions based on power relations and failed to refuse to act unlawfully, or stopped cooperating later, after initially cooperating.	Apologise, and take remedial action, depending on the gravity
4	The Bad	They did not only enable corruption but were primary, or through third parties were secondary, beneficiaries of corruption (joined the trough)	Resign, if still holding a position of responsibility
5	The Ugly	Those who initiated and benefitted in corruption	Resign, if still holding a position of responsibility

Table 1: Preliminary Categories Zondo Commission implication for individuals cadres

Based on these categories, the former Minister of Finance, using the publicly available information, falls in category 2, but has resigned. That makes matters really tricky for all the categories, except category 1.

The preliminary perspective on Zondo Commission outlined in Table 1, or an enhancement of it, could be handed to the Integrity Commission for enforcement. That would not in any way interfere, or second guess the Commission, but it would be a useful ANC internal mechanism to manage the implications of evidence that is led in the Commission for itself. There may be further action that would need to be taken based on the Zondo Commission Report when it eventually concludes its work.

At the same time, the ANC ought to exercise reasonable caution not to be carried away by the media hype, which risks swinging the pendulum too far, where good comrades are lost to the organisation, particularly those who may fall in Category 3 in the table. Those comrades should not get the same treatment as those who had the motive, and ultimately benefitted in the trough.

In the meantime, the ANC leaders, and members, would have to unite and defend the set perspective that would be enforced by the Integrity Commission, instead of defending or vilifying fellow members along the enduring residual factional lines.

As is evident, this begins a renewed culture of ethical leadership, taking responsibility for one’s actions despite being legally innocent, in the absence of a conviction. It is an opportunity to halt the race to the bottom, where leadership structures seem helpless to arrest these practices. Either because they lack the means or the will, or are themselves held hostage by them. It is an opportunity to deviate from practice observed by the 54^th National Conference of “waiting for courts to correct our actions.”

Missing an opportunity to put renewal into practice would be disastrous. Renewal would remain a slogan that is mouthed by everyone while inaction prevails on the pretext that no one can cast the first stone because everyone has their “smallanyana skeletons.”

As part recognition of the need for renewal, the Strategy and Tactics adopted at the 54^th National Conference states:-

“The ANC needs to demonstrate in actual practice its commitment to speeding up fundamental transformation. For this, it should shore up its own capacity, honestly identify and correct its weaknesses and revitalise its public image. Bland reassurances that are then negated by the very conduct of leaders and members will worsen the decline; and, among the people, they will merely generate irreverent humor.”

There are additional matters of reflection for which the ANC NEC ought to give guidance on in the context of renewal.

The vilified, but legally innocent, business family may not always have been a villain (they had no conviction at the time of writing). There may have been a time in history, no matter how far back, when they were just a business family, which no one would have guessed would be villains in future. Other matters in the public domain suggests that there may be other businesses that are evolving to become villains, if not already evolved, such as BOSASA, and the VBS Bank. This has huge implications for deployed ANC cadres and senior managers in various state institutions.

It is common course that for various reasons, business entities and other establishments such as NGOs, routinely invite government leaders to meetings, seminars, conferences, gala dinners and all sort of events. Cadres who receive invitations neither have the capacity, time, nor the bandwidth to do thorough background checks on those who invite them, especially as the invitations are largely time bound. They are also unlikely to have the foresight that a business that appears clean at the time of the meeting request, may latter turn into a villain. There are no tools available to make such judgment calls with perfect accuracy.

The evidence led by the former Minister of Finance suggests that there may have been nothing wrong in meeting businesspeople given the nature of his deployment.

The common comradely practice among cadres is meeting stakeholders or individuals by referral. It is not unusual for one comrade, in an effort to be helpful, to refer someone needing information or assistance to a cadre whom they believe is relevant or would be helpful. This has worked for decades, including during the struggle for liberation. The network of trust among comrades is one of the enduring strengths that have made the ANC Alliance a reliable force and an effective tool in service of the people.

However, just as askari’s would setup comrades by abusing their trust during the struggle, some comrades abuse this trust to benefit their associates. These may abuse the trust network to benefit themselves even without the knowledge of the referrers. Most of the cadres in categories 2, 3, and to a lesser extent 4 in Table 1, would have been victims of abuse of this trust.

The ANC ought to help its cadres by developing guidelines for engagement in a way that does not create a social distance between government and good corporate citizens, while ensuring corporate citizens with bad intentions fail to capture individuals in the state. Without such guidelines, a lot of good comrades, who act in good faith, would, inadvertently, be caught in the cross hairs malfeasance, and in hindsight would be perceived as having erred in judgment.

In the medium-term, the ANC would have to develop a comprehensive Code of Ethics that will be enforced by the Integrity Commission. For obvious reasons, the fifth iteration of the Code of Ethics would be grades better than its second. Hence there is greater benefit in developing the first iteration sooner.

The Code of Ethics would have to take into account the perceived, or real, power relations that often lead to silence of those who may wish to resist unethical directives of their seniors. The ANC would have to be innovative, as the power relations that are embedded in the patronage system are often an enabler of negative tendencies.

It is not too late for the ANC to self-correct and proceed on a path of renewal. Like most renewal occasions in nature, the process is unlikely to be smooth sailing, and may have its casualties, but it is urgent and necessary action for the ANC to survive, as the 54^th National Conference warned; “Organisational renewal therefore is an absolute and urgent priority, and we may go as far as to say, to the survival of our great movement.”

Like good sailors, the ANC has to tactically, and innovatively, adjust its sails to navigate through the tumultuous winds of the ongoing hurricane.

Cde Bayanda Mzoneli is a member of the African National Congress King Nyabela Mahlangu Branch (Ward 5) in Tshwane Region, Gauteng Province

References:

• ANC 50^th National Conference Political Report, 1997
• ANC 54^th National Conference Report and Resolutions, 2017
• Leadership Renewal, Discipline and Organizational Culture, ANC NGC 2010 Discussion Document, 2010
• Strategy and Tactics of the ANC, 2017

Footnote:

• Commission and Committee have been intentionally used interchangeably in this text in reference to the Integrity body as both the 53^rd and 54^th National Conference Reports use these interchangeably.

---

[1] Ibid, page 21

[2] Ibid, page 22

NB: This article first appeared in the ANC Journal, Umrabulo No 44, December 2018 – https://www.anc1912.org.za/umrabulo-2/

An obvious fact that is rarely considered is that the absolute territorial body control of oneself specifically ends at the tips of one’s own limbs. Beyond that you have very little, if any, control or jurisdiction in your environment, people around you or people you choose to associate with.

It is a matter of fact that if you are a man, you have full control on what to do with your penis, on your own, or with those who consent to doing something with you that involves it. You have complete liberty to do with it as you wish.

With the advances in technology, apparently you may now even bequeath it when you die, for surgeons at the University of Stellenbosch, in Cape Town, to transplant it to someone who might need it. It is your penis.

However, as a man, you have zero control, or say, on what any woman does with their vagina. You might find new love, be in a long time relationship, co-habit or even marry a woman, but it still does not entitle you to have any control, or say, in what she does with her vagina. It is her vagina.

A subset of proof of this is that her vagina is on her. But additional proof could be that the woman you choose to associate with is probably an adult, who has a right to make her own decisions with her body, particularly the vagina, including decisions that you, as a man, may not like, agree with or perceive as wrong. It is her vagina.

You may think because you have overcome adversity with her, or helped her through her studies, helped support her child, gave her shelter, paid lobola or married her, you might have exclusive rights to her vagina, but you do not. You are entitled to your religious, or culturally, driven self-delusion about her vagina, but the reality is that her vagina is hers. Her vagina is on her to do with it as she pleases, including doing with it, what you think is wrong. The only time, or circumstances, in which as man, you may have a say on a woman’s vagina is never. It is her vagina.

There are many charities that give financial and other forms of support to women without expecting exclusive rights on their vagina. That you chose to voluntarily help her, or voluntary acceded to her request for help, does not entitle you to her vagina. She does not owe you, unless there was a written conditional bursary agreement to that effect, which would still not count, as it would be unlawful to have a condition that involves a vagina. It is her vagina.

As a man, a woman whom you may be a relationship with, or married to, may opt to consent to having sexual intercourse with anyone she willingly allows to, and at anytime convenient to her, with or without using a condom. She could allow a man, men, woman or women.

She can allow a man, who is not you, to insert his penis in her vagina. Her efforts to get the said man’s penis erect using her mouth or hands or both, might precede this. It is her body.

They may make love in missionary, dog-style, or she may choose to get on top and ride his dick, sideways, cowgirl or reverse cowgirl. They may also fuck in the car, on the side of the road, in the office, in the apartment you share with her, or anywhere that is convenient to them. It is her vagina.

She does not need a reason to willingly allow a guy who is not you to insert his penis in her vagina. It is her vagina.

As a side comment, she might actually like it, which is sometimes the point, and all that matters. Your innate low self-esteem jealousy of wondering whether his size, endurance, reboot time and laps, exceeds yours is none of her business. She is not running a competition. It is her vagina.

For whatever reason, or no reason at all, she may lie to your about her whereabouts or where she went, when she went to have sexual intercourse with the other guy.

Her lies, in case you find out they were lies, may seem like betrayal or disloyalty. The reason it would seem as such to you is because you thought she owed you her loyalty, but in reality she does not. Nobody owes you anything, except for legitimate written contracts, signed lawfully, in the jurisdiction of the relevant magisterial district.

You may be in a relationship with her, share an apartment, or married but you are not her parole officer. She is not committing a crime by lying about her whereabouts to you, at most she is only probably transgressing your imaginary morals, which are primarily yours, not hers, whereas her vagina is hers, not yours. It is her vagina.

You may tell her how unhappy you are with what she does with her vagina, but you should not do anything more than that. If your sense of unhappiness includes uncontrollable anger, it would serve you well to dissociate yourself with her. Just as you had a life before you met her, you will have a life after her. So will she, with her vagina. It is her vagina.

She does not owe you an explanation on why she might have allowed another guy to insert his penis on her vagina, instead of you. She does not need a reason to have sexual intercourse with whomever she pleases. All she needs is her vagina, which is already hers because it is on her. It is her vagina.

If she lies to you about why she had sex with another guy or gives a self-contradictory account of what happened, you probably deserve being lied to and have only yourself to blame for having attempted to be a vagina jurist.

Studies have shown that beating someone you disagree with, or killing them, does not lead to changed behavior on their part, nor does it erase your anger or embarrassment. The most obvious proof of this is the struggle for liberation in South Africa. The apartheid government killed a lot of people and tortured a whole lot more. It is common knowledge how that went.

What tends to help is dissociating yourself, with that person, who does not share your beliefs, values, morals or whatever you think they should adhere to regarding their own vagina. That is why there is break up, divorce, termination of employment, resignation and similar mechanisms to dissociate oneself with people that annoy you.

If, for whatever reason, you choose to stay with her in spite of that you found out that another guy had his penis in her vagina, be mindful that she has the liberty to do it again, with the same, or different guy, if she so wishes.

Even if she apologises to you for hurting your feelings and your fragile ego, expresses remorse, and explicitly promises you that she will not do it again, she would still have the liberty to do it again, again and again, as her vagina is hers to do with it as she pleases.

If you are a Christian, you would do well to keep a spreadsheet to keep track of how many times she has sexual intercourse with other men, as forgiving her has a prescribed limit of seventy seven times (See Mat 18:21-22). Then when she does it the seventh eighth time, you may be obligated to break up with her or divorce her.

To be inclusive, and not leave out the cultural extremists, for each time she does it, please kill a goat, or a black chicken, to your heart’s content, just do not assault the woman in question.

So the only time when it is justified to assault a woman, verbally abuse her, or to kill her, is never.

As your friends or relatives might not read this text, let them benefit from that you have read it. The next time your friend, or relative, tells you how he is having problems with a woman he is in a relationship with, advise him to either get over it or leave her.

The African National Congress (ANC) will, later this year, hold its 54th National Conference, which among others will elect the national leadership of the organization for a five-year term, assuming that part of the ANC Constitution will not change.

Fortunately, the nominations for the leaders that will be elected are not yet open, so this text (and its author) is unlikely to be misperceieved as punting one leader or the other. However, discussing the principles around leadership is encouraged in preparation for the nomination time.

At its January 2017 Lekgotla, the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) said, through the a media statement,

“Branches will hold their BGMs/BAGMs during September and October 2017. In line with the 2016 NGC Resolution that the branch is the basic unit of the ANC, that slates must be outlawed and that serious action must be taken to prevent and deal with the practice of slate, the NEC resolved [to] do away with the practice of consolidating nominations for leadership at a regional and provincial level. Branches must be given the right to nominate. Consolidation at other levels tampers with the authority of the branches to nominate. All nominations for leadership from branches will be consolidated nationally by the Electoral Commission.”

This is a noble and very necessary intervention by the NEC. It will probably be followed by clear guidelines on how the nomination process should unfold. Until then, it seems practically unworkable, desirable as it may be.

Using the current constitution, a branch would have to nominate six national officials plus 80 additional members of the NEC, based on its own wisdom and knowledge of the 86 leaders. Keeping in mind the outlawed slates and that the leaders are unlikely to individually campaign for themselves, it would be interesting to see how a single branch, without consolidating at a zonal/regional or any level, would compile its nomination. As suggested earlier, the nomination guidelines will probably clear this, when they are issued.

The ANC National Conferences are preceded by the National Policy Conferences where there are in-depth discussions on policy priorities for the organization and draft resolutions for the National Conferences to consider, plus discuss further, for final resolution.

As such it is never considered necessary that leaders express their own priorities, outside of agreed resolutions, in order to be nominated for national leadership. It is assumed that the elected national collective will implement the resolutions agreed by the National Conference.

Given the irrelevance of stating a preferred leader’s priorities, lobbyist of various leaders have, in the past, relied on that leader’s past and the resultant accumulated character traits to suggest why branches should nominate the said preferred leader.

Often times, lobbyist have ascribed various priorities to their preferred leaders as part of campaigning for their election. Oddly, the said leaders usually do not explicitly own up to whatever their lobbyist ascribe to them. As such, those leaders, once elected may not be held accountable for the commitments made by their lobbyists on their behalf or in their name. Failures, where identified, are owned collectively.

Evidence since 1994 suggests that each elected national collective implements Conference resolutions with varying focus. This is probably due to a combination subjective and objective factors which result in some resolutions being implemented faster than others, and some resolutions left unimplemented, or whose implementation speed is extremely slow.

The struggle credentials, and the service delivery record, of potential leaders may no longer be sufficient to suggest that a leader will deliver on the immediate interest the ANC branches, and society in general, may have.

In this regard, the ANC 5^th National Policy Conference Discussion Document on Organisational Renewal (PCDDOR) proposes that;

“The ANC nominations and election processes must be reviewed to allow for open contestation with provisions for the membership to engage the candidates.”

However, the PCDDOR advances this proposal more to address the challenges of divisive factionalism, rather than accountability, which is the point this author is arguing.

Preceding this proposal, the PCDDOR acknowledges thus;

“This reality has resulted into the manipulation of branch processes to be geared towards achieving pre-determined outcome in terms of the elections of leadership in various conferences. (sic)”

This is evidently contrary to popular rhetoric, which all factions advance, that the 2001 NWC Discussion Document titled Through the Eye of the Needle is the filter with which leadership is chosen. (The PCDDOR proposes that some elements of Through the Eye of the Needle should be added to the ANC Constitution, this author proposed something similar a while back.)

Rather than “Through the Eye of the Needle” the branches are presented with pre-selected lists from which they have to blindly choose, as there is never a clear distinction in the delivery priorities or policy approaches of either list. Thus, through the garage door, branches blindly choose from the pre-selected.

It is common knowledge that the national leadership is elected for a 5-year term. Hence the candidates, once nominations open, should present convincing arguments on what they will do in their 5 year term, with clear timelines upon which they would be held accountable by the ANC NEC and the ANC branches through the ANC (mid-term) National General Council.

The intended delivery, and timelines should be clear enough to make it possible to tell achievement of the targets from the failure to achieve those targets.

The revolutionary sounding rhetoric of radical economic transformation, and the brilliance of pointing out challenges, causes and magnitude of unemployment, inequality and poverty are grossly insufficient as reasons to be elected. Equally inadequate is the enthusiasm in identifying opponents of the National Democratic Revolution, and/or their allies, either internally, domestically or internationally.

The commitments candidates make should, as far as possible, include how they are going to achieve those commitments. It should not longer be enough for any prospective leader to promise free education, without clarifying how that would be achieved within the prevailing fiscal constraints. The ANC members should refuse to be led by leaders who do not have the foresight to know that their commitments are unachievable.

It is common knowledge that the global balance of forces are likely to worsen and the global economic growth will remain stagnant. A candidate should not make unreasonable commitments with the hope to blame rating agencies, or other external factors, for the failure to achieve those commitments.

Our 23 years in governance ought to be evident in how practical are the commitments the candidates make. Relying on collective ownership of failures may no longer be enough to convince the voters that we have appreciation of the trust they entrust us through their hard-won vote.

ANC members, and volunteers, would have the conviction to later go on a door to door campaign to explain the commitments, convinced on how those commitments would be achieved.

This is not a proposal for a departure from collective leadership or from ignoring policy decisions adopted by Conference. It is a suggestion that candidates should state the priorities they will focus on in their 5 year term, together with their collective, so that the Conference do not just blindly choose based on the struggle credentials or CV alone. They have to know that the program resonates with the branches and communities which they represent at the Conference.

The proposal made in the PCDDOR for candidates to be engaged by the membership is not entirely new to the ANC. It is already happening with the ANC nominees for local government candidature in each ward. It is only fair and sensible that a level as important as the President, and the entire national collective, should not be left to chance.

NB: This article first appeared on spoken.co.za on 19 June 2017 – https://spoken.co.za/bayanda/2017/06/19/through-the-garage-door-blindly-choosing-from-the-pre-selected/

The 2012 Constitution of the ANC provides that any member has a right to elect and to be elected to any structure of the ANC. It has implicit exclusion of those whose first time membership is less than 6 months. During that period, a provisional member can neither vote nor be voted for.

However, the constitution further imposes additional requirements for election to specific structures. It prescribes that for election to the NEC, a person must have been a member for at least 10 years. For the PEC, a person must have been a member for at least 7 years, five years for the REC and two years for the BEC.

In theory, this means anyone who filled in a form any time from 2005 backwards and have paid the annual membership fee of R12 covering the successive years and R20 since 2013, has a right to be elected in any structure, including to the President of the ANC, and by extension of the country.

The constitution, understandably, does not explicitly impose a requirement that once a member earns a right to be elected after being a member for the prescribed minimum periods for various structures, they still have to qualify through an additional criteria whatsoever. Political consciousness and other traits are probably implied.

According to the audited membership numbers of the 2002 Stellenbosch Organisational Report, the ANC had 416,846 members (in the 2004 National Elections, 10.9m [69.69%] people voted for the ANC out of an estimated population of 44.8m South Africans).

The 2012 Mangaung Organisational Report indicated that the ANC had 1.2m audited member as of June 2012 (in the 2014 National Elections 11.4m [62.15%] people voted ANC out of an estimated population of 51.7m).

	Long ago	Recently	Numerical Changes	%Change
SA population Census(2001 vs 2011)	44,819,778	51,770,560	+6,950,782	+15.5%
ANC Membership(2002 vs 2012)	416,846	1,220,057	+803,211	+192.69%
ANC Votes(2004 vs 2014)	10,880,915	11,436,921	+556,006	+5.11%
ANC % voter support(2004 vs 2014)	69.69%	62.15%	-7.54	-10.82%

Membership growth is a great achievement, for the mass movement, that is in line with the 1942 ANC Conference Resolution of reaching 1 million members.

Having said that, the numbers suggest that there are more relatively new members in the ANC who have joined since 2002 than there were before then.

There are probably new challenges that are presented by this development, such as whether can the 400 000 members induct the new 800 000 members into the ANC or the 800 000 members bring with themselves a new culture that will dilute the old 400 000 members.

But that and other more difficult questions are matters with which the great thinkers, both old and new, more politically qualified than I am, will be seized. For example, they will explain while the ANC membership has numerically increased by 800 000 but the votes numerically increased by 550 000. Were there 300 000 already voters who just opted to take up membership in recent years? The membership increased by 192% but electoral support dropped by 10%. This is beyond the scope of this text.

The intention of this text is to argue lighter issues such as qualification for election into structures and deployments.

In the past it was easier to present credentials of candidates for election or deployment. Comrades had credible (selfless) struggle credentials that were common cause and could not be contested.

Some comrades had been to exile (including MK). Others had been to Robben Island or other prisons as freedom fighters. While others were active in various liberation movements within the country.

There will soon be a gray area on what constitute credible credentials worthy of election to leadership structures or deployment to positions of responsibility.

A 2001 NWC Discussion Document is usually mentioned; at least it used to be, towards Conferences. Although it is not an official policy of the ANC, there is general consensus about the appropriateness of its use as a guide to evaluate candidates for leadership.

Although it is a lengthy document, it essentially lists only 8 traits that it recommends an ANC leader should poses in order to be worthy to be a candidate. Those traits are;

1. “An ANC leader should understand ANC policy and be able to apply it under all conditions in which she finds herself. This includes an appreciation, from the NDR stand-point, of the country and the world we live in, of the balance of forces, and of how continually to change this balance in favour of the motive forces of change.
2. A leader should constantly seek to improve his capacity to serve the people; he should strive to be in touch with the people all the time, listen to their views and learn from them. He should be accessible and flexible; and not arrogate to himself the status of being the source of all wisdom.
3. A leader should win the confidence of the people in her day-to-day work. Where the situation demands, she should be firm; and have the courage to explain and seek to convince others of the correctness of decisions taken by constitutional structures even if such decisions are unpopular. She should not seek to gain cheap popularity by avoiding difficult issues, making false promises or merely pandering to popular sentiment.
4. A leader should lead by example. He should be above reproach in his political and social conduct — as defined by our revolutionary morality. Through force of example, he should act as a role model to ANC members and non-members alike. Leading a life that reflects commitment to the strategic goals of the NDR includes not only being free of corrupt practices; it also means actively fighting against corruption.
5. There are no ready-made leaders. Leaders evolve out of battles for social transformation. In these battles, cadres will stumble and some will fall. But the abiding quality of leadership is to learn from mistakes, to appreciate one’s weaknesses and correct them.
6. A leader should seek to influence and to be influenced by others in the collective. He should have the conviction to state his views boldly and openly within constitutional structures of the movement; and — without being disrespectful — not to cower before those in more senior positions in pursuit of patronage, nor to rely on cliques to maintain one’s position.
7. An individual with qualities of leadership does not seek to gain popularity by undermining those in positions of responsibility. Where such a member has a view on how to improve things or correct mistakes, she should state those views in constitutional structures and seek to win others to her own thinking. She should assist the movement as a whole to improve its work, and not stand aside to claim perfection out of inactivity.
8. The struggle for social transformation is a complex undertaking in which at times, personal interests will conflict with the organisational interest. From time to time, conflict will manifest itself between and among members and leaders. The ultimate test of leadership includes:
   1. striving for convergence between personal interests — material, status and otherwise — and the collective interest;
   2. handling conflict in the course of ANC work by understanding its true origins and seeking to resolve it in the context of struggle and in the interest of the ANC;
   3. the ability to inspire people in good times and bad; to reinforce members’ and society’s confidence in the ANC and transformation;and
   4. winning genuine acceptance by the membership, not through suppression, threats or patronage, but by being principled, firm, humble and considerate.”

The writer believes there are many, including those who have read it several times and some who were in the 2001 NWC, who did not know that it only identifies no more than 8 traits of a leader. Some will find their copy (or google it) in order to verify whether this is true so they can challenge this author.

Since this is not ANC Policy but just an NWC Discussion Document, which is an opt-in guide for leadership, there is no disincentive for not following it. You use it as a guide in your choice of leadership if you opt to do so. It is not a prerequisite for nomination to be a branch delegate to a Conference.

The Discussion Document cannot be used to disqualify candidates who qualify constitutionally. However, strange as it may sound in recent years, some comrades would be aware that they have disqualified themselves in the past in favour of the comrades they felt were politically better equipped than them despite enjoying the support of the members, sometimes even more than the other candidate. This really did happen.

Comrades who sufficiently understood the NWC Discussion Document and the general organizational culture, were not only willing to unavail themselves for election but actually did unavail themselves (the emphasis here is practice more than belief).

It must be exhausting that the author of this text is calling the NWC Discussion Document an NWC Discussion Document instead of calling it by its title that it is commonly known with, including by people who only know it from hearsay.

Any faction can make their candidate fit the 8 traits defined in the NWC Discussion Document. It is unfortunately not as much an eye of a needle as it is often made out to be. Perhaps that is part of why the ANC 52nd National Conference resolved that it “Instructs the incoming NEC to initiate a review of ‘Through the eye of a needle’, including guidelines on lobbying and other internal practices, learning from the experiences of what happened in the run-up to this Conference.” I am not saying that eight years later, this has not happened, but I have not came across the reviewed document (if anyone has seen a copy please share).

In the near future struggle credentials are no longer going to be a factor, as the generation of struggle veterans hand over the baton.

The subject of this text is to pose a question on what will replace ‘struggle credentials’ as a yardstick of worthiness of leadership. No one will be arrested anymore for political reasons.

Will there be an emergence of ‘service delivery credentials’ with which we will measure each other as comrades regarding our worthiness of standing for leadership? But service delivery is primarily a domain of public servants and public representatives. Would occupying office in itself be a service delivery credential on its own or would it need to be accompanied by evidence of performance? But performance is varied for different reasons. Even in instances where performance could theoretically be universally evident, factional views have the ability to trivialise good performance while adding a spin to poor performance.

Will popularity be the future standard? Already, the ANC practice on the nomination of its councillor candidates is taking this direction due to the practicality of how councillors are elected. A councillor needs votes of that ward. So the ANC recommends that an ANC candidate should be nominated by a community meeting rather than just a branch meeting. But where does that leave the political consciousness? There are other variants of populism such as vocal abilities of those who sing the revolutionary songs the loudest, drawing attention/admiration of delegates at any given event, e.g. the former SG of SASCO who, at the time of writing this text is DA.

Will it be holding paid up membership the longest? It is unlikely that the constitutional requirements for membership length for election mentioned earlier will be elongated any farther. Anyone with a card can claim activism and thus be justified to lead. But what form would the activism need to take? Does regular attendance of meetings qualify as activism? Participating in door to door campaigns? Lobbying for a specific leaders in a particular period. At some point, I learned that one of the ANC leaders had court trial support attendance in her portfolio credentials as one of the credentials.

The erstwhile student activists and youth activists would also fall in the category of long membership. But beyond membership, what features of an individual’s activism would stand out enough for an individual to be considered for leadership, ahead of others who may have held membership at the same time or even earlier? Or would their presence at certain congresses amount to great contribution in themselves.

For example, I may have served two terms in the NEC of a progressive student movement. But what would that mean? Beyond attending the standing NEC meetings and attending to provincial deployment, what exceptional contribution did I make? And what if my student activism resulted in the neglect of what defines a student, resulting in the deficit of academic progress? Would my credentials still hold?

Will political consciousness remain a factor? Even if it did, it is too intangible a factor to be useful in distinguishing individuals. What further erodes the utility of political consciousness is that the ANC is a broad church and thus not renowned for coherence of ideology.

Perhaps, what is indisputable is that some form of academic training would be necessary for anyone who wishes to be a leader. Even if it may not be a credential but it should be a requirement if the future challenges of the NDR are increasing in their complexity, including the terrain of struggle and the global context. In fact, the requirement for Post Secondary Education and Training (PSET) should be as minimum as holding paid up membership and be included in the constitution.

The youth movement, in particular ought to be seized with these questions. While democracy is a noble ideal, having too many candidates for leadership may be a reflection of depth of leadership or the opposite of it.

In this text, I have outlined the constitutional requirements for election to leadership. I have highlighted the changing context, nature and composition of membership. Finally, I raised a questions on what would be the future standard of electing leadership. In case someone asks about my credentials, do mention that I have made my contribution through this text, even though it lacks a thorough depth of analysis typical of matured leadership.

NB: This article first appeared on ANC Today Vol 15 No 08, 06-12 March 2015 – http://anceasterncape.org.za/developing-a-contingent-of-cadres-with-attributes-that-accord-with-tasks-of-the-ndr-in-the-second-phase/

I read with interest, the speech by Cde Blade Nzimande, the SACP General Secretary, to the Central Committee of COSATU. As always, I was interested in how the vanguard of the working class will inspire hope among millions of unemployed youth and casualised workers. I had also read the text of the Political Report to the 2^nd Special National Congress of the SACP held in December 2009 for the same reasons a few years ago.

I do not have paid membership of the SACP and my Young Communist League of South Africa (YCLSA) membership expired about 4 years ago, but I remain committed to the struggle for socialism because I believe capitalism is a crime which is a source of all problems in society.

Among other things, the SACP 2^nd Special National Congress Political Report did two things.

First it was to critically analyse the ANCYL or at least a grouping with the ANCYL. The conclusion of that analysis was that;

“None of this means that we should simply abandon those involved in this tentative class-axis – the buffoonery is a source of increasing embarrassment to their current or erstwhile patrons and we should work to win over those BEE elements who have been tempted to explore this dangerous and ultimately self-defeating project. Likewise, the great majority of young militants who have flirted with this style of long nights of long knives in bottom-baring conferences, with symbolic coffins for rivals, are not beyond constructive engagement. However, it is only a principled and broad-based worker hegemony that can reconfigure these forces into a progressive project.”

At the time of the 2^nd Special National Congress, I had noticed that the ANCYL pronouncements were taking from some of the earlier positions of the YCLSA, particularly what had earlier came to be known as the 10 Youth Demands around which the YCLSA mobilised in the aftermath of its re-establishment. The 10 Youth Demands were re-affirmed by the YCLSA at the Mokopane National Policy Conference as the”10 Youth Demands for 2015” that are consistent with the Freedom Charter. They include;

• Decent jobs and a living wage for all workers including young workers and learners;
• Extension of child support grants to cover young people up to the age of 18 years;
• Nationalisation of all land for productive economic use by landless communities targeting jobless young people;
• Public ownership of all mineral wealth;
• Free education for all from pre – school to tertiary education level and
• The extension of school feeding scheme to high schools

In realising the convergence, the YCLSA, went as far as explicitly welcoming the support of their ally, the ANCYL, in the campaign for distribution of sanitary towels to the working-class women. The welcoming message was expressed in the media statement on 29 February 2009, 10 months before the SACP 2^nd Special National Congress.

Let me hasten to add that, as a united force, the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA), which includes SASCO, YCLSA and ANCYL, has scored a lot of successes regarding some of their demands. The successes include what is now government policy including that;

• child support grants be extended to cover young people up to the age of 18 years;
• provision of free education for the poor from pre – school to Grade 12 plus free education for the poor but academically deserving at tertiary education level;
• school feeding scheme be extended to high schools and
• the provision of sanitary towels to poor women.

Even though I was not sure about the accuracy of the characterisation of the ANCYL or a grouping within it by the Political Report, I was pleased that the Report concluded that, “it is only a principled and broad-based worker hegemony that can reconfigure these forces into a progressive project” which meant the vanguard of the working-class intended to continue leading the left struggle against the violence of poverty and mobilise all the left forces behind it.

However, the SACP Message to the COSATU CC at the end of June 2011 does not communicate the message that the “buffoonery” is “not beyond constructive engagement” as suggested in the December 2009 Political Report. One can conclude that the “buffoonery” was engaged and the engagement was unfruitful or that the Political Report was wrong as the “buffoonery” may have been beyond engagement anyway.

Instead the SACP Message to the COSATU CC makes a more or less the same analysis of the ANCYL or a grouping within it as the SACP 2^nd Special National Congress Political Report had done. However, the Message to COSATU CC concludes with that, “… the SACP has identified and characterized both the broader ‘new tendency’ and its demagogic, shock-trooper ‘vanguard’ as the most immediate threat to the national democratic revolution.” The Message to COSATU CC does not suggest what needs to be done about this “demagogy” that represents “the most immediate threat to the national democratic revolution.”

Both the December 2009 Political Report and the June 2011 Message to the COSATU CC use the same theme to analyse the ANCYL or at least a grouping within the ANCYL. The analysis includes labels such as ultra-left, new tendency, proto-fascist, buffoonery, demagogues, tenderprenuership and so on.

The second thing the SACP 2^nd Special National Congress Political Report did was to critically analyse what is now called the Democratic Left Front (DLF) or at least its variant. In the conclusion of the assessment of this grouping, the report said;

“Even more disturbing is that some within our own ranks treat this tendency as if it is part of a healthy and democratic debate within the SACP, thus unwittingly strengthening its destructive behaviour inside the SACP. Building the unity of the SACP does not mean toleration of entryists, but instead requires that we isolate and defeat this anti-SACP tendency!”

The DLF had been earlier known as Congress or Coalition of the Democratic Left. It is constituted, among others, by some of the people who had been expelled from the SACP or YCLSA in the recent years. But it also consists of small issue based NGOs and civil society organisations. What brings them together is their intention to set the left agenda for South Africa, meaning that some of them do not see the SACP inspiring hope with regard to issues that they believe should be contained in that agenda. Some of their views can be read in a Bi-monthly publication called Amandla, as some of them contribute regularly to it.

Both the December 2009 Political Report and the June 2011 Message to the COSATU CC close the debate on the SACP relationship to state power, which is one of the issues that make some in the DLF to gravitate away from the SACP. In this regard the December 2009 Political Report associated continuing the debate with the elements in the Democratic Left Front and suggested they should be isolated. Having isolated those elements from SACP, the June 2011 Message to COSATU CC explicitly says, “Therefore, we wish to state categorically that the decisions of the SACP on the deployment of its cadres, is a now a CLOSED matter. None of us dare raise this matter in public, as this can only play into the agenda of the bourgeois media.”

I still believe the SACP is the only viable vanguard of the working-class that will lead us to a socialist South Africa. However, I doubt this can be achieved, among others, by alienating certain sections of society, particularly those among the working class and the poor.

Indeed, it may serve some purpose, in the short-term, to dismiss the Democratic Left Front as ultra-leftists who may have had a hard time with the discipline in the SACP. However, in a long term, various leftist issue-based organisations are finding warmth in the coalition that the Democratic Left Front is sewing together. If you call a gathering of civil society organisations today, more than half of them are likely to be part of the DLF.

On the other hand, the 24^th National Congress of the ANCYL was attended by more than 5000 delegates from branches across the country. It is neither helpful nor unitary to label their resolutions as “populism” or “demagogy.”

The SACP needs to do more than label groupings to the left of itself (ultra-left) to build hegemony among the youth and society in general. By labelling and isolating the groupings to its left, it runs the risk of isolating and alienating itself. This approach seems inconsistent with the Party that has a “relatively mass character” with a “vanguard role.” This should mean the SACP wins over these section of society and guides them in the socialists struggle.

Indeed the SACP Medium-Term Vision (MTV) adopted at the 1st Special National Congress in April 2005 at Durban directed that by the end of the 2^nd decade of freedom the SACP should have influence it all key sites of power, including the state. But the same Special National Congress noted in its Declaration that,

“… our society continues to be dominated by a brutal and inhumane capitalist accumulation regime. It is an accumulation path that has remained fundamentally untransformed, notwithstanding our democratic breakthrough. Indeed this accumulation regime has seen a significant and ongoing growth in the relative share of GDP going to the (capitalist) bosses, and a declining share going to the working class.”

The SACP should be careful not to embed itself in the state politics to the extent that its vision becomes indistinguishable to that of the ANC or government. That the NDR is the most direct route to socialism does not mean the vision of the ANC or that of government is socialism. The MTV does not end with the influence in the state as a key site of power, it is expected that the “capitalist accumulation regime” that the Special Congress Declaration spoke of, changes especially in the aftermath of global economic recession.

I still have faith in the SACP that it will not assist in rebuilding capitalism in South Africa following its collapse internationally during the global economic recession. In the meantime, I will support expropriation without compensation for industrialisation and agrarian reform. I will support free education both in terms of costs and its contents which currently remains unfree, held hostage by capitalist ideology. If demagogues unsettle white monopoly capital in the mining and agriculture sector, then they must be doing something right. I will be with them for now, until the SACP sets an accumulation Path that differs from “this accumulation regime [that] has seen a significant and ongoing growth in the relative share of GDP going to the (capitalist) bosses, and a declining share going to the working class.”

Bayanda Mzoneli is a member of the ANCYL at Ward 23, North Coast Region, KwaZulu-Natal

NB: This article first appeared on Hlomelang, the ANCYL bi-weekly Newsletter, on 14 July 2011

Kuningi okwenzakele onyakeni ka-2009. Enye yezinto eziqavile engike ngagxila kuzona kube ubukhona kobandlululo kubantu abahlukene. Ukucwasana ngokwebala nokucwasana ngokobulili ikona okuyaye kuthathe inxenye enkulu uma kukhulunywa ngobandlululo. Kepha kukhona nobandlululo ngokobuzwe, engizogxila kukhona kusiqephu sesibili salombhalo. Kulesiqephu ngifisa ukugxila kubandlululo lobulili.

Ngaphambi kokuba ngiqhubeke ngithanda ukukubeka kucace ukuthi angisisona isitabane okanye ungqingili. Kodwa nginabo abangani abayidlanzana abayizitabane.

Kuyihlazo ukuthi esikhathini samanje kusenabantu abangakwazi ukubekezelela ukwehluka kwemibono nabanye abantu. Esikhathini esiphambili kuke kwaba nokungabekezelelani ngokokholo, kodwa manje abantu abaningi sebeyakwemukela ukuthi kunezinkolo ezahlakene futhi abantu banelungelo lokulandela inkolo abayithandayo noma abacabanga ukuthi iyona ebasebenzelayo. Kodwa uma kuza kwezokuthandana kunabantu abangafuni ukwamukela ukuthi wonke umuntu unelungelo lokuzikhethela.

Kunemindeni ekhulisa izingane eziziphethe kahle. Zifunde zize ziqede ibanga leshumi ngemiphumela emihle. Ingane ihambe iye esikhungweni semfundo ephakeme, ibuye nemiyezane yayo ngesikhathi esilingene umkhakha ebiwufundela. Ifune umsebenzi ize iwuthole. Isebenze. Ithenge imoto yayo. Ifake isandla nasekhaya lapho inamandla okusifaka khona. Kunele kungavela ukuthi ithanda abantu bobulili obufanayo nobayo kube sengathi ibulele umuntu. Empeleni izingane esizike zabulala umuntu zithola engcono impatho emindenini kunalezo okusono sazo ukuthanda umuntu onobulili obufanayo.

Kunabazali, izihlobo nabangani abangenankinga nokubekezelela izidakwa, oskhotheni, imidlwembe, amahlongandlebe, izifebe, abahedeni, otsotsi kanye namadlabha. Phezu kwakho konke lokho bayehluleka ukwamukela ukuthi umuntu unelungelo lokuzikhethela ubudlelwano abuthandayo. Abanye bavika ngenkolo, abanye bavika ngamasiko, bafuna noma ngabe yini engabasiza ukwenza inzondo yabo yezitabane ibukeke njengento elungile.

Iqiniso elimsulwa ukuthi ukucwasa izitabani kuwubuqaba. Okumangaza kakhulu ukuthi kunedlanzana lalabo abayizifundiswa okumele ngabe ibona abavikela umthethosisekelo wezwe kanye namalungelo abantu, kodwa abanye babo nabo bacwasa izitabani. Lokhu kucwasa akunabo ubulungiswa. Kuveza nokungavuthwa ngokomqondo kulabo abahluleka ukwamukela ukuthi abantu abafani.

Kusobala ukuthi ukusebenzisa inkolo namasiko kuwukucasha ngesithupha. Abantu kumele baphumele obala ngokungazi kwabo ukuze bafundiseke bebe sesimeni sokwamukela ukuphilisana nabantu abahlukile kubona. Yilokhu okuyisisombululo sokucwasana nanoma ngabe yiyiphi indlela. Ubudlelwano umuntu akhetha ukuba nabo akumenzi abe isilwane. Usengumuntu njengawo wonke omunye umuntu okhona, udinga inhlonipho emfanele.

Izitabani zikhona futhi zisazoqhubeka nokubakhona. Ezinye zizozifihla, ezinye zizophumela obala. Imizamo yokwenza sengathi into engekho ngeke isaphumelela. Ayikaze ibekhona imibiko yokuthi kukhona olinyazwe ubukhona bezitabane. Inzondo engenasidingo kumele iphele. Izingane nabangani kumele bathole uthando abaludingayo ngaso sonke isikhathi ngaphandle kokubandlululwa ngokobudlelwano. Asikho isidingo sokuthi umuntu osemusha, osengaba nekusasa eliqhakazile angagcina ezibulele ngenxa yokungamukelwa emndenini nakubangani.

Sengigoqa, ngifuna ukuveza ukuthi kunedlanzana lezitabani elenzela zonke izitabani igama elibi ngenxa yendlela abaziphatha ngayo. Njengabo bonke abanye abantu, ukuziphatha ngendlela eqotho kubalulekile nakuzo izitabani. Njengoba kungekuhle ukuthandwa ukubukwa uma ungesiso isitabani, kanjalo noma uyisitabani akukuhle ukuthanda ukubukwa. Kuzokwenza kube lula ukubekezelelana uma bengekho abaphoqa ukuthi mabanakwe ngisho kungenasidingo.

Isende impi yokulwa nobandlululo njengoba lusaqhubeka. Sonke sinenselelo yokuphosa esivivaneni ekwakheni ikusasa elingcono elinokubekezelelana nenhlalakahle. Nginesiqiniseko sokuthi ukukwazi ukuphilisana nabantu ngaphandle kokucwasa kukwenza ube umuntu ongcono.

NB: This article first appears on spoken.co.za on 29 December 2009 – https://spoken.co.za/bayanda/2009/12/29/isende-impi-yobandlululo-isiqephu-1/