History will not record that the 214 members of the ANC parliamentary caucus who voted against the fifth motion of no confidence in the leadership of a monumentally flawed President Jacob Zuma on Thursday as disciplined cadres of the ANC.
History will in fact, record that when it mattered most, they abdicated their responsibility to save the country and the ANC from the Zuma calamity.
Those MPs have clearly forgotten that they joined the ANC as individuals, conscious of the organisation’s mission and vision.
They then took a solemn oath to defend the ANC’s mission, not its wayward leaders.
But they have failed to stay true to that oath as disciplined cadres of the movement.
They listened to threats and blackmail about being sell-outs, as if that had nothing to do with the contradicting of the values and mission of the ANC.
They were actually being rallied once again, in defence of the Zuma personality cult – at the expense of the country and the ANC.
They put first their dependency on the cult for their next deployment, rather than the interest of the people of South Africa.
They failed to examine their consciences and do the right thing – to vote to pass a motion of no confidence in the leadership of the current president of the country.
The current turmoil facing the ANC – from Nkandla to the issue of state capture – and the feeble, but expected, response of the ANC national executive committee and national working committee have been a sign that indeed the chickens are coming home for a serious political roasting.
I have on numerous occasions warned that the ANC should be careful never to liquidate itself, never to become a Zuma personality cult.
But what we are now witnessing is that the ANC has indeed been administered with a powerful anaesthetic and is now in the throws of irreversible death.
The ANC NEC and NWC are neither prepared nor willing to do what they know is right because the cult has fed them not only the material spoils of power, but also a false consciousness of “me first”.
The dominant faction is behaving like a pack of wolves that demands everyone must scream in cacophonous unison to defend the cult at the calamitous expense of the ANC itself.
They have become proverbial parasites insidiously feeding off the soul of the ANC, their mouths dripping with the black, green and gold lifeblood of the ANC.
They have now resigned themselves to the painful inevitability of the death of the ANC and they could not care less!
This is what should worry any right-thinking person, including members of the ANC, wherever they are and irrespective of political factions.
We need to ask fundamental questions about this careless and reckless attitude regarding the condition and survival of the ANC.
For instance, if there are parasites who could not care less about inflicting deadly blows onto the very vehicle – the ANC – that they are using for their self-enrichment, what is their ultimate plan?
Is there, in fact, an objective to usher in a very different political animal to the organisation of our liberation, thus chasing away those of us still committed to the original ideals of the ANC?
And can anyone say for certain whether the parasites will simply give up power and go to work like everybody else should their ANC turned gravy-train happen to be derailed in the 2019 elections?
In fact, will these cult worshipers even allow a conducive environment for a free and fair 2019 election in the event of possible electoral loss by the ANC?
But the truth here is that when the ANC ignores important constitutional judgments; when the ANC bulldozes parliamentary processes to promote and protect a cult instead of the constitution; when the ANC ignores the political machinations at play in the charging of a sitting finance minister and later dropping those charges because they were fabricated to begin with; when the highest leadership structures of the ANC rubbish a detailed report alerting the nation to deepseated graft in the state institutions and more, then we should all know that we are indeed at a tipping point.
If we are indeed vigilant and ready to defend our hard-won freedom we can never denigrate or abdicate our fundamental responsibilities.
The strength of our country depends on the collective ability of our people to act tenaciously, vigorously and in unison to uphold the values upon which our constitutional democracy was founded.
This is our civic duty as committed citizens of this beautiful African country.
Needless to say, this important civic duty transcends party-political affiliation, comrade Gwede Mantashe, because what was at stake on Thursday was not party-political interest, it was national interest!
And the members of the ANC parliamentary caucus failed to examine their revolutionary conscience and do the right thing.
They failed to do what our country and its people demanded of them.
Tipping point is here and so is rogue unit
History will in fact, record that when it mattered most, they abdicated their responsibility to save the country and the ANC from the Zuma calamity.
Those MPs have clearly forgotten that they joined the ANC as individuals, conscious of the organisation’s mission and vision.
They then took a solemn oath to defend the ANC’s mission, not its wayward leaders.
But they have failed to stay true to that oath as disciplined cadres of the movement.
They listened to threats and blackmail about being sell-outs, as if that had nothing to do with the contradicting of the values and mission of the ANC.
They were actually being rallied once again, in defence of the Zuma personality cult – at the expense of the country and the ANC.
They put first their dependency on the cult for their next deployment, rather than the interest of the people of South Africa.
They failed to examine their consciences and do the right thing – to vote to pass a motion of no confidence in the leadership of the current president of the country.
The current turmoil facing the ANC – from Nkandla to the issue of state capture – and the feeble, but expected, response of the ANC national executive committee and national working committee have been a sign that indeed the chickens are coming home for a serious political roasting.
I have on numerous occasions warned that the ANC should be careful never to liquidate itself, never to become a Zuma personality cult.
But what we are now witnessing is that the ANC has indeed been administered with a powerful anaesthetic and is now in the throws of irreversible death.
The ANC NEC and NWC are neither prepared nor willing to do what they know is right because the cult has fed them not only the material spoils of power, but also a false consciousness of “me first”.
The dominant faction is behaving like a pack of wolves that demands everyone must scream in cacophonous unison to defend the cult at the calamitous expense of the ANC itself.
They have become proverbial parasites insidiously feeding off the soul of the ANC, their mouths dripping with the black, green and gold lifeblood of the ANC.
They have now resigned themselves to the painful inevitability of the death of the ANC and they could not care less!
This is what should worry any right-thinking person, including members of the ANC, wherever they are and irrespective of political factions.
We need to ask fundamental questions about this careless and reckless attitude regarding the condition and survival of the ANC.
For instance, if there are parasites who could not care less about inflicting deadly blows onto the very vehicle – the ANC – that they are using for their self-enrichment, what is their ultimate plan?
Is there, in fact, an objective to usher in a very different political animal to the organisation of our liberation, thus chasing away those of us still committed to the original ideals of the ANC?
And can anyone say for certain whether the parasites will simply give up power and go to work like everybody else should their ANC turned gravy-train happen to be derailed in the 2019 elections?
In fact, will these cult worshipers even allow a conducive environment for a free and fair 2019 election in the event of possible electoral loss by the ANC?
But the truth here is that when the ANC ignores important constitutional judgments; when the ANC bulldozes parliamentary processes to promote and protect a cult instead of the constitution; when the ANC ignores the political machinations at play in the charging of a sitting finance minister and later dropping those charges because they were fabricated to begin with; when the highest leadership structures of the ANC rubbish a detailed report alerting the nation to deepseated graft in the state institutions and more, then we should all know that we are indeed at a tipping point.
If we are indeed vigilant and ready to defend our hard-won freedom we can never denigrate or abdicate our fundamental responsibilities.
The strength of our country depends on the collective ability of our people to act tenaciously, vigorously and in unison to uphold the values upon which our constitutional democracy was founded.
This is our civic duty as committed citizens of this beautiful African country.
Needless to say, this important civic duty transcends party-political affiliation, comrade Gwede Mantashe, because what was at stake on Thursday was not party-political interest, it was national interest!
And the members of the ANC parliamentary caucus failed to examine their revolutionary conscience and do the right thing.
They failed to do what our country and its people demanded of them.
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