ANC Youth League president Julius Malema and spokesperson Floyd Shivambu might have deserved the expulsion that came their way last week, given their consistent arrogance and air of invincibility. But there is no doubt in my mind that Malema and Shivambu were also victims of accidents of time and place.
Not only do I feel that some of the reasons for the judgments were arbitrary, ahistorical and formulated along the way, I also think the ruling itself makes that point. This is actually an interpretation of the judgment on the two gentlemen and four colleagues in the youth league’s leadership made by the national disciplinary committee (NDC). In response to the accusation of inconsistency and firmness on discipline, the committee said it was only acting on the instructions of the national general council (NGC), which mandated it to henceforth take a stronger line.
“The 3rd National General Council of the ANC which took place from 20 to 24 September 2010 directed that: for the ANC to remain strong and effective, discipline is a non-negotiable that must be enforced at all levels of membership and leadership, without fear or favour,” the NDC quoted.
Were it not for that, you would have to wonder why secretary general Gwede Mantashe remains a member of the ANC and ask what Jackson Mthembu and the irascible Jessie Duarte are doing being members — let alone leaders — of the ANC.
If the ANC felt that using foul language against journalists was a punishable offence, as they did with Shivambu, then Duarte would be long gone. Who can forget her numerous tirades and torrents of invective directed at journalists? The classic instance was directed at a reporter from The Times: “No, you must get a life! Your newspaper must get a life. You’re terribly classist, and if you were not black, I would say you were a racist … but well, I suppose you could be a racist, even if you were black like me. But you’ve got a very bad attitude.”
In explaining why the charge against Shivambu was viewed in a serious light, the committee pronounced: “Generally, a spokesperson is the face of any organisation. The NDC is of the view that the respondent’s use of vulgar language when dealing with third parties brought the ANC into disrepute, is unacceptable and constitutes a serious offence. The NDC took the view that the media and any other third party, with whom the respondent as spokesperson for the Youth League communicated, deserved respect.”
But any journalist will tell you that “respect” is a word that never featured in former spokesperson Duarte’s vocabulary. She even hallucinated, claiming that political journalists who used to meet in Newtown for drinks were plotting how to bring about the downfall of the ANC.
And if Mthembu, the public face of the party, did not bring the party into disrepute by not only being arrested for drunken driving but giving interviews in his spokesperson capacity while in that state, then surely something is amiss. An inebriated Mthembu spoke to journalist on the telephone while detained at the Cape Town police station and “sang” Ayesaba Amagwala while trying to make a point about its relevance.
And the finding against youth league secretary Sindiso Magaqa, for essentially criticising a cabinet minister, is hugely problematic. It is an affront to freedom of speech (even within the ANC), and some of the reasons put forward for those findings are ridiculous.
Magaqa had accused Gigaba of pleasing “imperialists” by saying the nationalisation debate was hurting foreign investments in South Africa. The disciplinary committee said his comments had lowered Gigaba’s esteem, detracted from his mandated duties as minister of public enterprises, and had had a negative impact on investment in South Africa. Since when is Gigaba’s esteem worthy of an ANC charge?
And if hurting foreign investment is such a serious offence, then Mantashe should long ago have been hanged. His numerous comments in which he undermined the rule of law and the separation of powers by attacking Constitutional Court judges clearly affected international perceptions about the country and raised questions as to whether the leadership of the ANC respected the independence of the judiciary.
My view is that there is so much nitpicking, pedantry and fault-finding that could result in many in the ANC’s national executive committee being charged for one thing or the other if someone were to take the trouble. This is because some of the charges, such as “bringing the party into disrepute”, are so widely framed that anything goes.
The most obvious examples of people who would immediately fall foul of this charge would include President Jacob Zuma himself, veteran Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and former local government minister Sicelo Shiceka, for either inappropriate comments or behaviour.
But hey, those youth league boys should have carried themselves with dignity and respect in the first place if they wanted to remain in the party.
I have always believed that in the space between right and wrong there is often a grey area, and that grey area is usually left to human beings to decide, based on their whims and prejudices. And human beings are not just fallible but also carry lifetime experiences that influence their sense of right and wrong. And they have interests — personal interests.
For more news and multimedia on ANC Youth League president Julius Malema view our special report.
