Sechaba ka’Nkosi and Wally Mbhele
Never in its history has the African National Congress approached its national conference as deeply divided as the party appears to be at the moment. The greatest challenge the ANC faces next week is not from its opposition, but its membership.
President Nelson Mandela’s departure as ANC president is already a foregone conclusion. But can the new leadership under the present Deputy President Thabo Mbeki heal the growing rift between factions in the party?
Since 1994, the ANC has been plagued by internal problems, ranging from a lack of discipline to internal leadership squabbles.
The handling of elections of provincial leaders has not only alienated branches from the national leadership, it has raised fears that the ANC is becoming authoritarian.
It is uncertain how long the movement can continue to sweep tensions within its alliance under the carpet. It says it seeks to be more than a party of mass support, and more than an electoral machine. It also seeks to be a movement of mass participation, remaining left of centre. But how long can it balance these goals with the demands and responsibilities of governing the country?
With the adoption last year of the unpopular growth, employment and redistribution strategy – which moved the ANC’s economic policy far to the right – some are suggesting that the party is no longer a broad movement encompassing the poor and disadvantaged, but that it has moved to the centre-right of the political landscape.
The ANC acknowledges that the past few years have seen a shift in the class realities of the society. “We have seen a rapid development of a new, black, upper- middle class. The gap between the richest 10% of blacks and the majority has grown very rapidly,” one of its discussion papers reads.
This is one of the dilemmas the party’s membership has been trying to grapple with, exacerbating the ANC’s difficulty in mobilising the grassroots.
In recent months, rallies have failed to attract many people. Only the Northern Province and the Free State have reported a steady growth in branch membership. In other provinces, rank-and-file members have begun to openly question the ANC’s performance in the government.
Mbeki and his new leadership will have to grapple with this discontent within their ranks. In the Eastern Cape, largely perceived to be the ANC’s traditional home, disturbingly high numbers of disgruntled members have joined Bantu Holomisa and Roelf Meyer’s newly formed United Democratic Movement.
Some ANC members are questioning how accountable their leaders are to their members. They believe there is not sufficient consultation before positions are adopted by the party. They say there is not enough room for criticism and the ANC is unable to deal with dissension without harming the image of the party.
So, when more than 3 000 delegates converge on Mafikeng in the North West province for the 50th national conference next week, it will be to seriously examine the ramshackle state of the party and to chart a route to take it into the 21st century.
“We must ensure that both ideologically [in the values and policies we develop] and organisationally, the new powers, wealth and privileges do not become an end in themselves, but are used in the service of the national democratic struggle,” says the ANC in one of its conference documents.
The best means for ensuring this objective, according to the ANC, is keeping the party’s mass participatory character. “This is the best antidote to the danger of our organisation being transformed into a narrow, professional machine, enjoying support, but not empowering mass participation.”
The ANC says it believes its strategies are not beyond criticism. “We must have a cadreship and leadership who are humble and prepared to listen to constructive criticism. Part of being a cadre also means an ongoing process of self-criticism, evaluation, learning and self improvement.”
But the priority for Mbeki, as he seeks to take not just the party but the country into the 21st century, is to restore control and discipline within the ANC.
As the ANC approaches its next hurdle, the 1999 elections, the question will arise whether the tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party holds.
Cracks within the alliance began surfacing last year with the SACP and Cosatu publicly voicing their displeasure at what they perceive to be the ANC’s deliberate shift to the right at the expense of reconstruction and development.
Elements within Cosatu and the SACP have already raised their preference for the alliance to last only until 1999. Beyond that, support for a “progressive left-wing opposition” and a socialist youth wing is gaining ground within the two structures.
A leading ANC figure Peter Mokaba has voiced genuine concern about the contradictions in the alliance. In a robust critique of the role of communists within the ANC, Mokaba has called on the conference to examine the alliance with the SACP.
These are some of the issues Mbeki has to grapple with in the next year. During his four years as an understudy to Mandela, he has learned how heavy the mantle of leadership is.
For now, ANC regions have rallied behind Mbeki for the position of ANC president because of his age and hands-on approach to organisational matters. He does have real support in the organisation, and has managed, for the moment, to silence many of the
critics who had earlier challenged him.
“If you are always part of the discussion and open about what you believe in, people who are not happy with such positions can easily label you a manipulator. But we know him as a firm and capable leader who reads and analyses everything before adopting a position, and he is also in touch with some of the issues that take place on the ground,” says Eastern Cape provincial secretary Humphrey Maxhegwana.
The question everyone will be asking after next week is: how long will Mbeki manage to keep the show together?