What must be made very clear at the outset is that no individual or faction is, or will be, greater than the ANC; not the CR camp or the Paul Mashatile camp.
Thus, the decisions of the executive, especially after open and honest discussions, must be upheld and respected. This will avoid further fragmentation. It is a terrible self-defeating mistake to attach or link the fate of the ANC to this or that individual or faction.
So what exactly is this ANC that they are talking about and wish to condemn when it wants to "reconfigure" itself? Why rumbles of discontent from those who think this development threatens their selfish interests? This party founded by Pixley Isaka ka Seme is not limited to card-carrying membership of party affiliation or that faction. Worse, today there are many card-carrying members that are not ANC. They belong to the branches for themselves.
Don't be fooled by T-shirts and expensive regalia with black green and gold. The ANC is the spirit and soul of African nationalism. It puts the interests of African people in Africa first. Africans are neither white nor black. They are those who owe and pledge allegiance to this beautiful country, especially the interests of the people.
ANC supporters during the party's 113th Anniversary Celebration at Mandela Park Stadium in Khayelitsha. Picture: Facebook
The body called ANC may die or even lose political office and power. Its leaders may lose credibility and become irrelevant. But the spirit of the ANC lives and will always live. It is a spirit intuitively connected to the African people. It resonates and is carried by the wind. Sometimes it is a breeze. No one can kill the spirit. Those who can have the power to kill the ANC are not yet born.
As long as there are men and women who are selfless, self-sacrifice and are willing servants of the people, the ANC lives and will live, forever. Neither be discouraged nor fear. This renewal project, properly understood, cannot be stillborn. Oliver Tambo was wrong: no ANC can kill the ANC. As long as there are Africans subjected to white supremacist patriarchal capitalist economic system, the ANC will breath and live.
As long as there is economic inequality and social injustice, the spirit of the ANC will strive, survive and win. As long as there are so-called black leaders who want to abuse and rob the country to get rich quickly, the ANC will live to challenge this. The ANC spirit is destined to, as Steve Biko said, "give a human face to the world". In fact, it may even reinvent itself in a different face, if need be.
As long as we have men and women, old and young, black or white who love this country's people more than their selfish interests and are wrapped in a black skin, no ANC will die. The skin is not pigmentation but a reflection of a commitment to justice, equality and prosperity for all. It is a principled ideal, a soul.
We have to know the ANC. It is not what many think it is. Worse, it is not a rumble in the jungle between CR vs Paul Mashatile. Or their proxies in Fikile Mbalula vs Panyaza Lesufi. There are just too many opportunists and self-seekers that claim to be ANC. And these idiots tend to confuse leadership with position, rank and power.
You do not need to hold a position to be a leader. You make the best of what you have wherever you are. In our little corners and world, as long as we do whatever little we can to improve the lives of the historically disadvantaged, the spirit of ANC lives. As long as the fearless and courageous men and women that stand for principle and speak truth to power, the ANC lives.
Above all, speak truth to the ANC itself. After all, speaking truth must begin inside the ANC … in the spirit of the Chris Hani letter. We must change the way we perceive and define the ANC and the ANC will change. And this calls for "reconfigurations". Let's change the political algorithms. We know them and see them on TV everyday. They are not ANC.
The ANC is greater than individuals and factions. So, nobody should be running to branches to protect and preserve his position. It is an African spirit of hope, the aspiration for a just, equal and democratic world. It may even reinvent itself to come in another name wearing diffiferent colours. But for now, the ANC urgently needs to reconfigure itself. So what is this ANC that people are talking about and they do not want it to reconfigure itself? Only those with eyes to see will recognise the ANC. The ANC lives.
Sandile Memela is a journalist, novelist, cultural critic, polemicist and public servant. Picture: Supplied
I'm intrigued by the use of the phrase: "burying heads in the sand". Comrade, I think if you opposed to reconfiguration because you are going to lose a position as SG or premier, you are at a wrong place. We must be clear about what change means. Yes, change is pain. We cannot keep the same leadership at both national and provincial level that dropped the political numbers and expect different results. For change to happen, some things and people must change.
We live in a greedy selfish capitalist society where the weak opportunists will commit mistakes. Obviously, they are mistaken for the ANC. They have accumulated ill-begotten and go everywhere to brag. Pity them. Pray for them. Not even their riches give them peace of mind. They are haunted, tormented.
They are victims of the selfish greedy capitalist economic system that promotes decadence. We should not be distracted. Where the spirit of the ANC lives, people are creating little pockets of the world they want to see. They meet old ladies without shoes. They immediately buy them a good strong pair of sneakers. They do not indulge in "far into the night" drinking sessions.
You have been there. You have seen it and wore the T-shirt. And the thankful people with eyes to see say, "the spirit of Africa", which is the ANC, lives. You can only change the world by changing your world where you are. And the men we look up to now must make change visible. When they do that, the spirit of the ANC, which is the spirit of God, will multiply your blessings.
Of course this sounds like sentimental clap trap, especially to those that do not want change or are threatened by it. But it is what it is. We all at an individual level have to be agents of what we want to see.
We see hope in you and the ANC you represent. And the ANC we want is not afraid to change itself, for when the ANC is seen to change, the country changes.
Those who know the ANC, know.
#Conviction
