Who is the African National Congress?

The African National Congress is our ruling party. So who does it actually consist of? Phakamisa Ndzamela, Sello Selebi and the Mail & Guaridan Online’s Thembelihle Tshabalala talk to some delegates at Polokwane.

Wellington Ramcwana (51)

As a student in the Eastern Cape, where he comes from, he was a member of the South African Students’ Movement, under the Black Consciousness Movement and the Black People’s Convention.

‘I joined the ANC in 1990 just after its unbanning and then I was also part of the South African Allied Workers’ Union, which actually lost me my job,” he laughs, explaining that he was working in a magistrate’s court that was opposed to unions.

He is currently a member of the SACP. Ramcwana was convinced that Mbeki would be president of the ANC for a third term.

Themba Dlova (68)

Dlova, a nurse by profession, is a part-time lecturer at North-West University. ‘I facilitate part-time and I am also a part-time councillor at the Chris Hani branch in the Free State.” Dlova has been a regional chairperson and is now a councillor. He says the ANC is a non-racial and non-sexist organisation that ‘wants to build a better life for all”.

‘There is a spirit of tribalism that is present in the party … tribalism, historically, is the reason why we lost our land as black people.”

Lennox Rubulana (48)

For Rubulana, an ANC veteran of 26 years and the speaker of the Matjhabeng municipality in the Lejweleputswa region of the Free State, the ethos of collectivism is what defines the party.

He adds that the ANC has come a long way since he joined because it is now better able to deliver to ‘indigent people”.

On the future, Rabulana says ANC members will be looking towards 2012 in order to ‘revitalise” the party.

Moogi Ranganya (54)

Ranganya is a ward councillor from the Madeira region in Limpopo.

Ranganya has been an active member of the ANC since 1974. Before that she was a member of the civic association. ‘I have a heart for poor people and that is why I joined the ANC,” she says, adding that she was attracted by the way the ANC took care of people then.

‘The ANC still takes good care of people where I’m from. If someone from a poor family dies, the ANC helps with the funeral arrangements,” says the mother of two, who sews in her spare time.

Suzanne Govender (23)

Govender has been a member of the party for only two years now. She also belongs to the ANC Youth League in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, and she joined the ANC simply because there was no big ANC structure in the predominantly Indian area in which she lives.

‘There was an ANC in areas surrounding my area but not in my area, so now there is one and it is dominated by Indians,” she says.’I actually used to study the history of the ANC and I was fascinated by it and the things that it did to get us all here, because they did not only do it for black people, but for all of us.”

Govender is reluctant to speak further to the Mail & Guardian as she says that delegates from her province are not allowed to speak to the media.

‘I will get into trouble with my province because we were told not to speak to the media, so I will not [allow you to] take a picture.”

Kenny Motshegoa (18)

Motshegoa is president of the Congress of South African Students and a member of the ANC (which he joined in 2006), the ANC Youth League and the Young Communist League. He completed grade 12 this year.

‘People must prepare themselves psychologically for a JZ presidency,” says Motshegoa.

Thabitha Mpamba (38)

Mpamba says the ANC is like a parent to her. She glows while saying that the ANC brought the country to freedom. ‘Today we live in a non-sexist and non-racial country and this is all because of this party.”

She comes from the OR Tambo region in the Eastern Cape and says she voted for JZ. ‘I am glad that Msholozi won because I have hope that he will change a lot of things,” she says passionately, adding: ‘I am from a rural area and I feel that the previous president did not at all make an effort to go to rural areas and see what people were going through.”

This delegate, who has been in the ANC since 1990, says that JZ is a man who communicates with the people on the ground. She hopes he carries on doing so now that he is president.

‘We love Zuma for the person that he is and I hope that he doesn’t change.” She adds that the ANC, since coming into power, has done much to try to fight poverty.

‘Now all that I hope for is for Msholozi to do things right because when we voted Mbeki into the presidency, we had hopes and expectations for him.”

Donovan Brown (23)

Brown, from the Northern Cape, comes from Greenpoint, which, he says, was the site of the first ANC branch in the country.

He first joined the ANC Youth League at the age of 14, a decision largely fuelled by the fact that he grew up in a politically active family. He adds that it was the legacy of people such as Nelson Mandela and Anton Lembede that set the course for him to join the ANC.

‘I am glad that we have taken the ANC back to the people,” says Brown about the results of voting for the ANC’s top six positions.

Ghishma Barry (no age provided)

Barry is the deputy speaker of the Eastern Cape’s provincial legislature. She is also a member of the ANC’s provincial executive committee in the province.

She is not comfortable about giving out her age, but she proudly reveals when she joined the ANC.

‘Well, we could join the organisation after it was officially unbanned. Prior to that I worked in the mass democratic movement.

‘I was regional secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa.”

She welcomes and supports the newly elected ANC top six. ‘The entire top six is a new leadership.”

Connie September (no age provided)

The former trade unionist is an ANC MP. ‘ANC for life!” is how she describes her association with the party. She maintains that the outcome of the Polokwane voting is immaterial because a role will be found for everyone.

‘We all joined the ANC because we believed in the organisation’s policies. We didn’t join the ANC because it’s supposed to be a stepping stone to careerism.”

Rita Fatyela (53)

Fatyela, from the Western Cape, wants to see the ANC grow ‘because there is no other party that will do justice for the poor and helpless”.

Fatyela was born in 1954, but only this year did she decide to become a diehard member of the ANC. ‘My poverty led me to the ANC. I joined the ANC in 1990.”

Mamachama Maruma (35)

Maruma, who hails from the Free State, joined the ANC so that she would be closer to decision-making organisations that affect her as a young South African. She sees herself as a social correspondent between the community and the councillors.

‘My job includes going door to door to people’s homes and asking them about areas in their lives in which they need assistance. We want Msholozi to be president because Mbeki has had his turn.”

Sibongile Mbatha (41)

Mbatha, from Moses Mabhida region in KwaZulu-Natal, says her prayers have been answered. ‘Yesterday was a judgement day for Msholozi and we all saw that he is favoured by God,” she says.

Mbatha has been chairperson of her branch for 10 years and is deputy mayor of her region. This mother of four vociferously maintains that the conference is not about the delegates or the leaders. ‘This is not about me, Mbeki or Msholozi; this is about the poorest of the poor, who deployed us here so that we can be their voices,” she says.

She is married and says her husband is supportive of her work in politics. ‘He knows that in my life everything revolves around politics and I know that he knows that the same goes with him, but I am extreme,” she laughs.

Mbatha believes that Zuma will ‘lift us from the ground and place us on top. We believe that he is capable to stick to the principles of the ANC, and that is to respect the people by listening to them.”

Khosi Mahlati (45)

A passionate sportswoman and teacher, Mahlati has been with the ANC for 25 years and is at present an additional executive branch member at Thembisa Border branch in Gauteng.

The mother of two sons hopes the ANC will remain the ruling party forever, but emphasises that a change of guard is necessary.

‘You see, that is why I want the leaders to change, because I feel that if one person or the same group of people stays in power for a long time, they change the ethos of the party.

Proudly she talks about her youngest son, who ‘is a politician. He questions everything. The other time he asked me why he attends a ‘multiracial’ school and not the school where I teach.”

Lucas Mkhabela (49)

Mkhabela, a maths and science teacher who hails from Mpumalanga and is a loyal member of the Joe Masilela branch in Mashishing, was lured to the ANC after a personal experience with his family’s employer.

‘We used to live on the farms and I saw how my parents were treated and how much they were paid, and [we] had to move from that particular farm because the farmer wanted to exploit me.

He did not want me to go to school and he said I must look after his cattle even during school hours,” explains Mkhabela, who is married with three children.

He adds that after reading ANC policy documents he realised the ANC was the only movement that fought for the liberation of black people.

About the newly elected top six he says: ‘According to my feelings it is the right choice, because it is proportionally representing all the sectors; the working class is also there.”