The ANC is making sure more than ever before that its MPs toe the party line. Gaye Davis reports
AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS members of Parliament are expressing growing concern with the organisation’s leadership style, citing mismanagement of crises, a consolidation of central authority and a clampdown on internal dissent.
The Mail & Guardian has interviewed a number of ANC MPs to gauge the climate in the organisation following the expulsion of Bantu Holomisa, the clash between Gauteng Premier Tokyo Sexwale and Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, and other controversial recent events.
Many expressed a deep concern, believing the organisation is lurching from blunder to blunder, but the fact that not one would speak on the record is an indication of the state of the party.
MPs described a “climate of fear” that inhibits criticism. “You don’t think about sticking your neck out for fear of getting your head chopped off,” said one.
Some cite ambition as the reason why voices are stilled. “If people want to rise, they must be seen to be in good standing by certain people. Some people are keen to say certain things to enhance their positions – or because they already occupy a position they don’t want to lose. The career aspect has never been a factor in ANC politics before – it’s a totally new situation.”
At the heart of the problem appears to be the leadership style that has developed since the ANC came into government, dependent to an extent, on powerful personalities such as President Nelson Mandela and Mbeki.
Key ANC players in the government take decisions and then present them for endorsement – brooking little dissent in the process. “There has been a merging of government and the organisation,” said a source. “The government takes the decision and it becomes an ANC decision. Internal democracy gets crushed.”
There is deep concern over how candidates are being selected for key posts. Whereas before cadres rose through party ranks, these days they are elevated within the organisation by virtue of government appointments, often on the grounds of loyalty rather than competence.
“Government positions are used to manufacture leadership. Their status in government is used to elevate them within the organisation,” said one MP.
Said another: “People are not in high positions necessarily because they have merit or important constituencies, but because they enjoy the favour of those high up.”
This has led to the marginalisation of ANC constitutional structures and those of the alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party (SACP).
One example cited is Mandela announcing on his return in May from courting German investors that privatisation was “fundamental policy” of the ANC – when the debate had not yet run its course internally. Another is the macro-economic framework, which was presented to the national executive committee virtually as a fait accompli.
The lack of consultation caused serious problems – and raised key questions about the future of the ANC/Cosatu/SACP alliance.
“The ANC is still a broad liberation movement. The different class, racial and other tensions have to be held together. One can do this by keeping channels of debate open, and allowing positions to emerge, or by trying to control things, by clamping down on dissent – which turns the organisation into a pressure cooker,” said an MP.
“The leadership has opted for the latter course. It’s a defensive reaction, rooted in the sense that we’ve got power, but have we got the ability to deliver?
“Decisions have to be made – it’s accepted that the government must govern. The problem is they’re being taken on the run, in an ad hoc fashion.
“The government is driving the show, not the political structures. If you’re running a broad liberation movement you need a consensus-making instrument so that you can drive your programmes and take people along with you.”
For many MPs, the handling of the Holomisa affair illustrates the problems of political mismanagement. “It could have been dealt with early on, far more efficiently. Instead, the ante was upped and it was driven to crisis,” said one.
Some MPs contrast the firmness of the action taken against Holomisa with the relative lack of resolve displayed in dealing with recalcitrant bureaucrats, for example.
Also, the way in which Holomisa was dealt with has left a bad taste in many mouths. “Many didn’t agree with what Holomisa did and were critical of him before. But the way he was disciplined has left people with the sense that no-one is safe anymore,” said one source.
MPs also have in mind the experience of Pallo Jordan, seen to be a popular leader with independent and outspoken views. They were shocked when he was dropped from the Cabinet, and this was only partly allayed when he returned a few months later.
The personality cult that has developed around Mandela means that criticism of his actions is all too readily seen as lSse- majest,. But while fear of incurring his displeasure may cause people to hold their tongues, this is not the whole problem.
“Few people would want to take on Mandela head-on. He stands head and shoulders above anyone else in the organisation and he is also a man of principle,” said one source.
“What concerns people is that if this authoritarian style becomes entrenched as a way of running things … there are others who are less scrupulous than Mandela who will exploit it.”
Others say the authoritarian style already allows for situations that are exploited to some people’s advantage.
“There’s an intensity of feeling against what is seen as a closed group running things,” said a source.
For individual MPs, it throws up questions about their relevance, what they can achieve. They see themselves as ineffective. As a result, many are reviewing their positions. “A lot of people are just treading water, waiting to see what happens,” said a source. “Others are getting out while they can.”
Those who can are leaving for new, more secure jobs – in the private sector, like Constitutional Assembly chairman Cyril Ramaphosa, or in the civil service. “The stakes are much higher now – if you get chopped as an MP and you only have a high- school qualification what do you do?”