Joshua Amupadhi
ROBERT SOBUKWE must be turning restlessly in his grave at the latest high-profile Pan Africanist Congress’s (PAC) failure to resuscitate his dream at its weekend convention in Pretoria.
Speeches on the opening day stated how the PAC would be “totally overhauled” and “transformed” to become a “vanguard of the have-nots”.
But critics said the convention was merely a “symbolic show of unity,” which failed to come up with new ideas to lead the PAC out of near political oblivion.
Instead, the PAC “re-affirmed” positions on various issues. President Clarence Makwetu, whom militant youths have blamed for the PAC’s empty coffers remains firmly in place – at least until the party’s December congress.
Some party members said they were disappointed that the convention lacked powers to change party structures. Resolutions, taken at the convention – for example, on consolidation of leadership among the party’s various bodies – need to be ratified by the congress.
Dr Faried Esack, a University of the Western Cape academic, said the convention failed to address contradictions within the PAC. “Until they have resolved their problems they will not come out of the doldrums that they are in.”
Political commentator, Ashwin Desai, said the unity portrayed at the convention was “public posturing” and a “temporary phenomenon”. While the PAC “never really had the support it claimed,” Desai said there was a “fertile ground for a radical opposition” in South Africa.
Convention convenor Ike Mafole said criticisms were unfair because the convention had been fruitful and that resolutions that had been made would be implemented at grassroots level.