Unlike the calendar, social reality doesn’t lend itself to being compartmentalised. The year is new in date alone. Challenges and anxieties remain unchanged.
The newness of the time, however, does offer new opportunities to try different ways of solving old problems.
This year is effectively a second chance – before change becomes irreversible.
Just as in 2013, we’re now back to a pre-election year. That was the toughest ever pre-election season for the ruling party. It just couldn’t shake off the ignominy that continues to follow its scandal-prone president Jacob Zuma.
Unable to remove nor rein in his scandalous behaviour, the party directed its efforts at the institutions of state.
It sought to subvert the pillars of our democratic society in the hope that the public would believe that these institutions, not their president, had become toxic to the health of our democracy.
But, election results showed a disapproving public. Voters punished the ruling party for unethical conduct. The party’s reduced majority affirmed that moral consciousness is just as valued as attending to voters‘ physical wants.
And, not much has changed since then.
As we head towards the 2016 local elections, the problems that cost the party votes remain. Zuma has still not reimbursed the public for expenses towards his personal comfort at Nkandla.
The court is yet to rule not only on whether or not he must pay back the money, but also on if he should be recharged for corruption. Party spin-doctors will have us to believe that these controversies won’t influence local elections, which are supposedly contested on a separate set of issues.
What they won’t explain away, however, is that the organisation’s president remains the face of the party even for local elections. And, therein lies the problem for the party in government.
Elections are about optimism, that things will change, which people are likely to believe if the messenger enjoys credibility. But, Zuma has zero credibility. He embodies the cynicism that has come to define our politics.
And cynicism is the most endemic at local level. Municipalities are the most unpopular of all three sphere of government. Locals liken a councilor’s term to “eating”, not public service. In other words, making Zuma the ANC’s face for local elections will do absolutely nothing to improve the party’s image.
He exemplifies the “eating” that has brought notoriety to local government.
Perhaps it’s still too early to worry about the local election campaign.
But, worrying would be unnecessary if a pre-election season was seamless.
But election campaigns feed off the preceding period. No campaign can spin away a decidedly gloomy experience.
Electricity outages are making people downright miserable. They get stuck in traffic, incur extra costs on take-outs and gas, go without television and freeze in cold weather. Some are likely to lose jobs as the outages slow down productivity and sales, whilst prospects of employment look even dimmer for job-seekers.
Electricity blackouts are complicating what is likely to be an even more difficult pre-election year than 2013. Disgruntlement against the incumbent will grow even more. Since the electricity generation capacity will only improve in about three years time, there isn’t much that can be down about the outages.
This means more pressure on the incumbents to improve on areas within their control in order to minimise the level of dissatisfaction.
What we do know though, is that attacking institutions to shield the misconduct of certain individuals won’t improve the party’s electoral fortunes. The party must confront its problems head-on.
The looming national general council offers the party an opportunity to try new ways of addressing its perennial and self-made problems. Because the party is just coming out of a bad election it may be emboldened to introduce far-reaching reforms to improve its image.
That’s what the 2010 NGC did when it planned for the 2011 local election in order to stem the losses the party had suffered in the 2009 national elections. Members were barred from holding municipal and party positions simultaneously nor could they continue occupying other jobs whilst serving as councilors.
Similar fears of further a electoral drop may prompt the same reform measures. And the possibility of losses is real this time around, especially at the Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane, eKurhuleni and the City of Joburg metro.
Short of taking bold decisions against the twin problems of factionalism and corruption, the outcome of the fourth NGC will be meaningless.
Factions create tolerance for ill-discipline which oftentimes is geared towards corrupt ends.
Ending factionalism simply requires consistent application of rules, throughout all the levels of the party hierarchy, regardless of which individuals are involved.
This measure may take a while to reconfigure the party, but lifestyle audits are likely to have immediate results against corruption and wastage of public resources. Prosecutions will show serious intent against corruption and build momentum towards efficiency.
It is difficult though, to turn the party around if its president remains mired in impropriety. And Zuma’s scandals have a way of consuming the entire organisation. Because most become sycophantic wanting to prove their loyalty to the president, the entire organisational infrastructure has swung behind defending the president. Even the most decent people turn into morons just so that they endear themselves to the president.
Crassness becomes the trait by which one impresses the president. It becomes a race right down to the bottom!
In sum, serious party reforms are needed, but their impact will be lessened in the absence of exemplary moral leadership.
Of course the party has its own tribulations, but Zuma on his own brings along a whole set of additional problems.
That his presidency has been scandal ridden from the onset makes it impossible to imagine a scandal free ANC with Zuma still at the helm.
Removing Zuma is just as critical as institutional reforms. Whether or not the fourth NGC has the guts to initiate momentum towards a recall remains unclear. What is certain though, is that the ruling alliance will look different by the end of this year. Divided loyalties will split Cosatu’s affiliates between the ANC and the newly formed vanguard of the working class, the United Front (UF).
The move towards the UF will gain further momentum as the SACP becomes even more irrelevant. Now that it has fashioned itself the role of a sycophantic lobby group that defends misdemeanour in exchange for patronage, any claim that it continues to advance workers’ rights are downright laughable.
The once venerated, intellectual star of the liberation movement, has completely lost its shine.
The ANC enters this year with the benefit of hindsight. It’s now indisputable that a leadership morass is costly to the party. Also, neither attacking the institutions of state nor using the parliamentary majority to hide ignominy actually works. A new way of doing things is urgently required to improve the party’s image and possibly, its electoral fortunes in the 2016 local elections.
The new year offers the ANC a second chance to redeem itself. If it misses this opportunity, the slide downward will become irreversible. Members will have to choose between remaining silent to preserve self-interest or taking a stand to save the party. The outcome is uncertain.
Dr Mcebisi Ndletyana heads the political economy faculty at Mistra
Last chance for redemption
The newness of the time, however, does offer new opportunities to try different ways of solving old problems.
This year is effectively a second chance – before change becomes irreversible.
Just as in 2013, we’re now back to a pre-election year. That was the toughest ever pre-election season for the ruling party. It just couldn’t shake off the ignominy that continues to follow its scandal-prone president Jacob Zuma.
Unable to remove nor rein in his scandalous behaviour, the party directed its efforts at the institutions of state.
It sought to subvert the pillars of our democratic society in the hope that the public would believe that these institutions, not their president, had become toxic to the health of our democracy.
But, election results showed a disapproving public. Voters punished the ruling party for unethical conduct. The party’s reduced majority affirmed that moral consciousness is just as valued as attending to voters‘ physical wants.
And, not much has changed since then.
As we head towards the 2016 local elections, the problems that cost the party votes remain. Zuma has still not reimbursed the public for expenses towards his personal comfort at Nkandla.
The court is yet to rule not only on whether or not he must pay back the money, but also on if he should be recharged for corruption. Party spin-doctors will have us to believe that these controversies won’t influence local elections, which are supposedly contested on a separate set of issues.
What they won’t explain away, however, is that the organisation’s president remains the face of the party even for local elections. And, therein lies the problem for the party in government.
Elections are about optimism, that things will change, which people are likely to believe if the messenger enjoys credibility. But, Zuma has zero credibility. He embodies the cynicism that has come to define our politics.
And cynicism is the most endemic at local level. Municipalities are the most unpopular of all three sphere of government. Locals liken a councilor’s term to “eating”, not public service. In other words, making Zuma the ANC’s face for local elections will do absolutely nothing to improve the party’s image.
He exemplifies the “eating” that has brought notoriety to local government.
Perhaps it’s still too early to worry about the local election campaign.
But, worrying would be unnecessary if a pre-election season was seamless.
But election campaigns feed off the preceding period. No campaign can spin away a decidedly gloomy experience.
Electricity outages are making people downright miserable. They get stuck in traffic, incur extra costs on take-outs and gas, go without television and freeze in cold weather. Some are likely to lose jobs as the outages slow down productivity and sales, whilst prospects of employment look even dimmer for job-seekers.
Electricity blackouts are complicating what is likely to be an even more difficult pre-election year than 2013. Disgruntlement against the incumbent will grow even more. Since the electricity generation capacity will only improve in about three years time, there isn’t much that can be down about the outages.
This means more pressure on the incumbents to improve on areas within their control in order to minimise the level of dissatisfaction.
What we do know though, is that attacking institutions to shield the misconduct of certain individuals won’t improve the party’s electoral fortunes. The party must confront its problems head-on.
The looming national general council offers the party an opportunity to try new ways of addressing its perennial and self-made problems. Because the party is just coming out of a bad election it may be emboldened to introduce far-reaching reforms to improve its image.
That’s what the 2010 NGC did when it planned for the 2011 local election in order to stem the losses the party had suffered in the 2009 national elections. Members were barred from holding municipal and party positions simultaneously nor could they continue occupying other jobs whilst serving as councilors.
Similar fears of further a electoral drop may prompt the same reform measures. And the possibility of losses is real this time around, especially at the Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane, eKurhuleni and the City of Joburg metro.
Short of taking bold decisions against the twin problems of factionalism and corruption, the outcome of the fourth NGC will be meaningless.
Factions create tolerance for ill-discipline which oftentimes is geared towards corrupt ends.
Ending factionalism simply requires consistent application of rules, throughout all the levels of the party hierarchy, regardless of which individuals are involved.
This measure may take a while to reconfigure the party, but lifestyle audits are likely to have immediate results against corruption and wastage of public resources. Prosecutions will show serious intent against corruption and build momentum towards efficiency.
It is difficult though, to turn the party around if its president remains mired in impropriety. And Zuma’s scandals have a way of consuming the entire organisation. Because most become sycophantic wanting to prove their loyalty to the president, the entire organisational infrastructure has swung behind defending the president. Even the most decent people turn into morons just so that they endear themselves to the president.
Crassness becomes the trait by which one impresses the president. It becomes a race right down to the bottom!
In sum, serious party reforms are needed, but their impact will be lessened in the absence of exemplary moral leadership.
Of course the party has its own tribulations, but Zuma on his own brings along a whole set of additional problems.
That his presidency has been scandal ridden from the onset makes it impossible to imagine a scandal free ANC with Zuma still at the helm.
Removing Zuma is just as critical as institutional reforms. Whether or not the fourth NGC has the guts to initiate momentum towards a recall remains unclear. What is certain though, is that the ruling alliance will look different by the end of this year. Divided loyalties will split Cosatu’s affiliates between the ANC and the newly formed vanguard of the working class, the United Front (UF).
The move towards the UF will gain further momentum as the SACP becomes even more irrelevant. Now that it has fashioned itself the role of a sycophantic lobby group that defends misdemeanour in exchange for patronage, any claim that it continues to advance workers’ rights are downright laughable.
The once venerated, intellectual star of the liberation movement, has completely lost its shine.
The ANC enters this year with the benefit of hindsight. It’s now indisputable that a leadership morass is costly to the party. Also, neither attacking the institutions of state nor using the parliamentary majority to hide ignominy actually works. A new way of doing things is urgently required to improve the party’s image and possibly, its electoral fortunes in the 2016 local elections.
The new year offers the ANC a second chance to redeem itself. If it misses this opportunity, the slide downward will become irreversible. Members will have to choose between remaining silent to preserve self-interest or taking a stand to save the party. The outcome is uncertain.
Dr Mcebisi Ndletyana heads the political economy faculty at Mistra
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