It is worrying that some members of the ANC tend to air their differences and punt their policy preferences in the media, and that some use the media to assassinate the characters of others. Without familiarising us, the grassroots members of the ANC, some leaders go to the media with their political positions. All this is said to be in the course of protecting the legacy of the ANC, but it is an alien culture affecting our vanguard movement and its alliance partners.
Our questions are: Who is their audience? Why are they not going to the branches of the ANC to table their positions?
When Nelson Mandela sought support for the plan to prepare the ANC for a future underground, he went to the alliance leadership to state his case. He crisscrossed the country, at great risk to himself, to get the masses to accept and support the birth of Umkhonto weSizwe. After he left the presidency and was at odds with Thabo Mbeki’s stance on HIV/Aids, he did not go to the media but put his views to the national executive committee.
Today, some senior ANC people use the media to table their views — views that have not been discussed or debated within ANC structures. Take Julius Malema’s view that the government must nationalise the mines. Nothing wrong with the idea — it may even have a lot of support among us, but why was it not subjected to debate and discussion in alliance structures before being taken to the media? Why has he not asked us grassroots members what we think of the idea?
Malema also went to the media about racism: he wanted the issue debated publicly. President Jacob Zuma said such a debate would take us backwards as a society. Malema should have asked Zuma for a meeting to discuss the matter, but no, he took it to the media and said: “We are being led by cowards who do not want to confront the race issue” (Mail & Guardian, August 28 2009). The M&G was ecstatic, of course — “Malema raps ANC leaders on race”!
Who was he addressing? ANC Youth League members? Leaders of the tripartite alliance? Has racism been discussed by Malema within these structures? When? Was there a consensus opinion? If not, why then did he take it to the media?
We repeat: ANC leaders must stop going to the media when they have ideas they want to put across. If these ideas are to enjoy our support, they must be discussed and debated within the ANC and the alliance before being bandied about in the public domain. If we continue sensationalising our ideas in the media before discussing them among ourselves, we should not be surprised if our political opponents think we are political clowns.
Thula Bophela (alias John Drinkwater) and S’khumbuzo Qwabe (alias Commissar Jakes Potlako) are former members of Umkhonto weSizwe. The ideas expressed here are theirs and not those of any ANC structure. This is an extract from a longer discussion paper.