ANC members of parliament are at a crossroads. What do they do? Should they vote against the motion of no-confidence tabled against their party leader, President Jacob Zuma, and retain a president who appears to behave more like a deployee of the Gupta family than a deployee of the ANC?
Or should they vote together with opposition parties to oust Zuma and so induce a dissolution of the cabinet – the consequences of which nobody is certain?
Senior commanders and commissars of the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association had made the same call.
So too have church leaders and civic organisations.
All of these argue that Zuma is putting the interests of his family and the Gupta family ahead of the interests of ANC and the country.
Such selfishness was unexpected and is shocking on the part of a state president and an ANC president whose duty is to be loyal to both the nation and the ANC respectively.
But Zuma is literally killing the country and the ANC with the members of the NEC behaving as if they are pall-bearers, carrying the ANC coffin to the Nkandla cemetery.
The ball is now in the court of ANC members of parliament.
They must choose whether they will attempt to salvage the country or whether they will continue destroying both the country and the ANC.
If they vote to retain Zuma there is almost certainly a likelihood that the plundering of the country’s assets will accelerate. On the basis of what we have already seen this will result in Zuma’s family and friends amassing even more wealth – at the expense of the country.
The South African public sees this and is not impressed with such behaviour.
If the ANC continues with Zuma as state president, the organisation can expect to pay a heavy price in the 2019 general elections.
At that point many ANC backbenchers are likely to lose their seats in parliament.
This will mainly be because they decided to keep an extremely corrupt president in office in 2017 despite the litany of scandals that have occurred throughout his tenure.
But there is no easy way ahead for ANC MPs.
If they vote with the opposition parties in order to oust Zuma they will almost certainly be labelled as sell-outs and can expect the wrath of ANC Youth League and the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association under Kebby Maphatsoe to be unleashed against them.
The supporters of Zuma are said to be at alarmingly serious loggerheads with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and are determined that he will not taste power.
Their agenda is to see power transferred from husband Zuma to former wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
This is supposedly according to the Guptas’ script.
ANC MPs are now so polarised that there is no longer comradeship in their ranks in parliament: it is a case of dog eats dog, with intense fighting amongst themselves for access to the Treasury.
Things have become so bad that in the event of Zuma losing a vote of no-confidence, the possibility exists that his supporters will abstain from supporting whoever is nominated to replace him – in this case, Ramaphosa.
This creates the remote possibility of a DA/EFF coalition government coming into power.
But let us assume that this does not happen and that Zuma supporters prevail in their bid to see power transferred from Zuma to Dlamini-Zuma in December in order to ensure smooth sailing and land the Gupta-inspired slate.
This is hardly a guarantee of ANC victory at the polls in 2019.
Indeed Dlamini-Zuma might win the ANC presidency in 2017, but there is no guarantee that she will become South Africa’s president in 2019.
The fact is, in the advent of any decline in support for the ANC in 2019, it will be the ANC backbenchers who lose their places in parliament.
Whether ANC MPs vote now to oust Zuma or whether they support him now and lose their seats later when the ANC vote declines, my point is that they will lose their seats either way.
But that is not the overriding aspect in this matter. The most important thing is that the country will be better off if Zuma is ousted now.
What is to be done?
The only way for the ANC to perhaps save itself is to reform the electoral laws and to establish multi-member constituencies (MMC) so that the public and the branches can directly elect MPs for their areas and locations.
The ANC stands a far better chance of winning elections with men and women of integrity in charge, rather than having kleptomaniacs in office.
This is the only way to eliminate the slate system and restore dignity and integrity to credible levels in the ANC and the South African government.
Power to the people! Power to the ANC branches!
Omry Makgoale is a rank and file member of the ANC. These are his personal views
Lose-lose for ANC backbenchers
Or should they vote together with opposition parties to oust Zuma and so induce a dissolution of the cabinet – the consequences of which nobody is certain?
Senior commanders and commissars of the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association had made the same call.
So too have church leaders and civic organisations.
All of these argue that Zuma is putting the interests of his family and the Gupta family ahead of the interests of ANC and the country.
Such selfishness was unexpected and is shocking on the part of a state president and an ANC president whose duty is to be loyal to both the nation and the ANC respectively.
But Zuma is literally killing the country and the ANC with the members of the NEC behaving as if they are pall-bearers, carrying the ANC coffin to the Nkandla cemetery.
The ball is now in the court of ANC members of parliament.
They must choose whether they will attempt to salvage the country or whether they will continue destroying both the country and the ANC.
If they vote to retain Zuma there is almost certainly a likelihood that the plundering of the country’s assets will accelerate. On the basis of what we have already seen this will result in Zuma’s family and friends amassing even more wealth – at the expense of the country.
The South African public sees this and is not impressed with such behaviour.
If the ANC continues with Zuma as state president, the organisation can expect to pay a heavy price in the 2019 general elections.
At that point many ANC backbenchers are likely to lose their seats in parliament.
This will mainly be because they decided to keep an extremely corrupt president in office in 2017 despite the litany of scandals that have occurred throughout his tenure.
But there is no easy way ahead for ANC MPs.
If they vote with the opposition parties in order to oust Zuma they will almost certainly be labelled as sell-outs and can expect the wrath of ANC Youth League and the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association under Kebby Maphatsoe to be unleashed against them.
The supporters of Zuma are said to be at alarmingly serious loggerheads with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and are determined that he will not taste power.
Their agenda is to see power transferred from husband Zuma to former wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
This is supposedly according to the Guptas’ script.
ANC MPs are now so polarised that there is no longer comradeship in their ranks in parliament: it is a case of dog eats dog, with intense fighting amongst themselves for access to the Treasury.
Things have become so bad that in the event of Zuma losing a vote of no-confidence, the possibility exists that his supporters will abstain from supporting whoever is nominated to replace him – in this case, Ramaphosa.
This creates the remote possibility of a DA/EFF coalition government coming into power.
But let us assume that this does not happen and that Zuma supporters prevail in their bid to see power transferred from Zuma to Dlamini-Zuma in December in order to ensure smooth sailing and land the Gupta-inspired slate.
This is hardly a guarantee of ANC victory at the polls in 2019.
Indeed Dlamini-Zuma might win the ANC presidency in 2017, but there is no guarantee that she will become South Africa’s president in 2019.
The fact is, in the advent of any decline in support for the ANC in 2019, it will be the ANC backbenchers who lose their places in parliament.
Whether ANC MPs vote now to oust Zuma or whether they support him now and lose their seats later when the ANC vote declines, my point is that they will lose their seats either way.
But that is not the overriding aspect in this matter. The most important thing is that the country will be better off if Zuma is ousted now.
What is to be done?
The only way for the ANC to perhaps save itself is to reform the electoral laws and to establish multi-member constituencies (MMC) so that the public and the branches can directly elect MPs for their areas and locations.
The ANC stands a far better chance of winning elections with men and women of integrity in charge, rather than having kleptomaniacs in office.
This is the only way to eliminate the slate system and restore dignity and integrity to credible levels in the ANC and the South African government.
Power to the people! Power to the ANC branches!
Omry Makgoale is a rank and file member of the ANC. These are his personal views
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