A dispute over South Africa’s economic direction lies at the heart of the conflict within the African National Congress, Democratic Alliance acting leader James Selfe said on Friday.
”The spy scandal that has emerged in recent weeks has shaken the foundations of our democratic order and has exposed the fault lines within the ruling party,” Selfe said in the DA leader’s weekly newsletter.
”The ANC is at war with itself — its fierce battles playing themselves out daily in our state institutions.
”The South African Police Service, the Scorpions, the public service and the parastatals, and now, most recently, the National Intelligence Agency, have all borne the brunt of ferocious turf wars between leaders and adherents of rival camps within the ANC,” he said.
”The abuse of intelligence services, the surveillance of political opponents, and the violation of the privacy of law-abiding individuals are all unacceptable in a free society.”
Rather than submit the spy scandal to an open, public and thorough investigation, the ANC believed an internal investigation would suffice.
”But that is the very root of the problem: an open investigation would expose not only the breaches of the law, but the internal politics that lay behind them,” Selfe said.
The reasons for the ongoing battles within the ANC were complex and varied, and the most obvious tussle was over who would succeed President Thabo Mbeki.
”At its heart, though, the conflict stems from a deeper dispute over the economic direction in which the country is headed.”
Last year, ahead of its National General Council, the ANC released a discussion document titled Development and Underdevelopment, which advocated, among others, the rapid liberalisation of exchange controls, the creation of a two-tiered labour market, and increased exemptions for small business from collective bargaining agreements and labour regulations, said Selfe.
The council jettisoned the proposals. Yet, government knew that to achieve six percent real economic growth, it would have to adapt employment legislation, cited by both domestic and foreign investors as the biggest single impediment to domestic fixed investment.
Likewise, government had recognised that there was a skills shortage, and skilled people would have to be found to sustain growth, he said.
This meant the people who had taken severance packages from the public service or the municipal administrations would have to be enticed back.
”This, in turn, means that employment equity targets must be reviewed.”
Moreover, the government knew that if it was to be taken seriously as an investment destination, it needed to act against corruption.
So, while many corrupt people might still be slipping through the net, the public prosecution of former deputy president Jacob Zuma sent a very powerful message to the investment community that corrupt officials would be prosecuted without fear or favour.
Likewise, Mbeki’s recent call for people not to elect corrupt councillors, was an equally clear message.
”Each of these steps — and there are others that the government is taking less publicly — carry our enthusiastic endorsement,” Selfe said.
”But they are rejected by many within the ANC, and more especially by the ANC’s allies, because these steps are seen to be a betrayal of the fundamental policies of the tripartite alliance.”
The challenge for the country was to remain on course, and maintain the sound monetary and fiscal policies that had provided the foundation for sustained economic growth.
”Simultaneously, we must put in place those measures that will enable the economy to grow, thereby creating the jobs we so desperately need. If it ever seems that the Mbeki faction is faltering or under threat, the DA must encourage and support the president to do the right thing.
”But that also means that the division between state and party must be reinstituted. And a good place to start would be with the intelligence services,” Selfe said. – Sapa