President Thabo Mbeki has warned against people who use the African National Congress (ANC) as a stepladder to reach positions of power, instead of serving the people of South Africa.
Speaking at the Eastern Cape ANC’s three-yearly conference in Alice, he said it has become very fashionable to be a member of the party ”and even more fashionable to be a leader of the ANC”.
No one should join in order to become a leader, premier or president, he said.
”But it’s happened, it’s happening among ourselves, and the result is division.”
It also leads to corruption in the organisation, with people paying others to join in order to boost their own support.
He said the ANC must make sure its branches and members are exemplary.
”We join the ANC to serve the people of South Africa, and that is all,” he said.
In an apparent reference to the two-way contest for the position of Eastern Cape chairperson, he said he hoped that what will emerge from the conference will be a ”united province of the ANC” with a clear perspective on the tasks it faces in the service of the people of the Eastern Cape.
Delegates cannot afford to behave in a way that betrays not only the people of the province, but of the country.
Fortunately, they come from a province with a long history of revolutionary struggle and this history will help them emerge as an organisation that the entire ANC can be proud of.
He said the province has to maintain the tradition that has existed for many years, of producing the best members of the organisation.
”It’s a big challenge, and I think constantly we should ask ourselves that question,” he said.
If the calibre of members in the Eastern Cape is not maintained, it can have consequences for the rest of the country.
Mbeki himself comes from the Eastern Cape.
At the opening session of the conference on Thursday night, outgoing chairperson Makhenkesi Stofile warned that the ANC is ”losing the battle of ideas”, and is being compromised by individuals’ greed for power.
He said it is ”a fact” that the greed for power is directly related to the desire to abuse government offices to dispense patronage.
”All these compromise the integrity of the ANC and our struggle,” he said. — Sapa