Barry Streek
The African National Congress has taken a strong stand against its members who regard their positions as a source of material wealth for themselves.
It says its elected leaders should not only be free of corruption, but should also actively fight against corruption.
This tough position on leadership within the party was taken in an ANC national working committee discussion document, entitled Through the Eye of a Needle? Choosing the Best Cadres to Lead Transformation. This is a reference to the biblical injunction that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
It comes at a time when there is increasing concern within ANC ranks about people using their positions to enrich themselves and being used as facilitators to secure government contracts for businesses.
The document which doesn’t name its authors does not refer to any specific event, but says its leaders should “represent the motive forces of struggle.
“To become an ANC leader is not an entitlement. It should not be an easy process attached merely to status. It should be informed first and foremost by the desire and commitment to serve the people, and a track record appreciated by ANC members and communities alike.
“Through force of example, he should act as a role model to ANC members and non-members alike. Leading a life that reflects commitment to the strategic goals of the NDR [national democratic revolution] includes not only being free of corrupt practices; it also means actively fighting against corruption.”
Some individuals compete for positions in the government to assume positions of authority and “many such members view positions in the government as a source of material riches for themselves. Thus resources, prestige and authority of government positions become the driving force in competition for leadership positions in the ANC.”
The document continues that government positions go hand-in-hand with the possibility of giving contracts to commercial companies.
“Some of these companies identify ANC members that they can promote in ANC structures and into government, so that they can get contracts by hook or by crook.”
Leadership also opens up the possibility of appointing individuals “in all kinds of capacities. As such, some members make promises to friends that once elected and ensconced in the government, they would return the favour. Cliques and factions then emerge within the movement, around personal loyalties driven by corrupt intentions.”
Every member of the ANC has the right to vote for and be elected into leadership positions, but then they have an obligation to understand and pursue the objectives of the ANC.
Nomination and canvassing has to be done openly, within the constitutional structures of the party, “but outside these structures it becomes dangerous and unacceptable lobbying.
It concludes by saying: “We should strive all the time to ensure that our leaders are indeed made of sterner revolutionary stuff.”