In his address to the Northern Cape Elective Provincial Conference, President Ramaphosa elevated into ANC nomenclature the concept of organic unity to capture the complexity of forging unity by dealing with what is arguably the cause of disunity; the chronic unearthing of its members and leaders out of the corruption cesspool. The ANC has no historical lessons about dealing with corruption as an existential threat from beyond its membership base, and is thus calling for a unity type that calls for closing of ranks against the wrong and deviant from within its ranks. As a standard, Ramaphosa calls for "a renewal process which must tell us that we want to protect the ANC, its existence, and its effectiveness", ... he further urges that the ANC "must arrive at a point where we will not tolerate dubious behavior that undermines the standing of this glorious movement and diminishes it’s standing and its integrity". This he argues will anchor (organic) unity or principled unity.
What then is organic unity? In facile terms organic unity is a context where an organisation or organism or idea is alwayse construed as being made up of interdependent parts, despite their distinct uniqueness. In fact, organic unity "asserts the interconnectedness of everything in an organisation or world, and that everything is a sum of its effects, thus with no character of its own, independent of its interaction with others". In its basic sense it sees every part of an organisation in its atomic nature, it affects the whole of being, as a 'thing' its properties are effects of other 'things', if you by chance remove other 'things', it has no properties because in its organic unity nature there is no thing in itself. This there means that "since everything about an organisation is interrelated, to want oneself to be different is to want the whole organisation to be different".
In Aristotle parlance, organic unity is presented as “a complete whole, with its several incidents so closely connected that the transposal or withdrawal of any one of them will disjoin and dislocate the whole.” As a construct to lucidly tackle the complexities associated with the "principled unity" the ANC is forging, organic unity reinvigorates its movement character by seeing its member behaviour as strands of morality strengthening all its pillars of radical socio-economic transformation. As a movement the ANC could capture 'the imaginative expression of unity in variety' by holding together the vision of a South Africa whose definition could not be anything less of a national democratic society founded on the dictums of the 1955 Freedom Charter. Through its strategy and tactics, the eye of the needle, and lately the innovative member integrity management system, the ANC has now packaged its essence into a unit whose structure is now composed of orderly 'parts' suitably fashioned and adapted to the central idea of being leader of society.
Encumbrances associated with behaviour or actions of 'individuals' within its ranks, are in this emerging organic unity firmament no longer collateral to its standing in society. The actions therefore of ANC members will in a context of organic unity be seen as parts of a whole, yet their consequences will be viewed as individual in so far as they impugn on the integrity of the ANC. It will henceforth be the extent to which the organisation is put into disrepute that will match the collateral support the 'movement' is prepared to invest in the rescue or otherwise of a member. In this whirlpool of ethical review, which is unfortunately immediate in consequence to its members, the ANC has taken on the most violent of its 'proverbial bulls' by the horn. The centre stage that the Secretary-General occupies in the implementation of the integrity mechanism is fast becoming a case study to demonstrate its resolve to decollateralise its social and political capital in favour of members found to be in complex relationships with the law and the prosecutorial processes of the country.
By introducing the concept of organic unity into ANC nomenclature, the President and leadership of the ANC have succeeded in creating a 'capsule' concept with which all other theorisations, that almost justified the collateralisation of the movement's moral standing in society in favour of struggle credentials of political incumbents found to be in complex relationships with law abiding citizenship, could be neutralised. In colloquial 'buffalo reckless and yet enemy focussed' style, the President has taken corruption head on, and what we are seeing is the conceptual institutionalisation of theory behind the somewhat new terrain of struggle towards societal development.
It is in fact the value neutral character of these conceptual interventions that will define all in this vortex of consolidating the member integrity mechanism by the ANC rank and file. ANC members will have a conceptual framework to gentrify the rogue and corrupt as being organically divisive by their mere involvement is situations defining them differently with the law. The emerging stories, and evidence of corruption by those interior to the President's inner circle workings, should not survive the new path. In fact, it would be morally prudent if the President decisively deals with those closest to him as evidence of his genuineness about fighting the scourge of corruption as a key pillar of the organic unity he has called for.
With the National Elective Conference of the ANC due in 2022, and President Ramaphosa not having been given chance and space to showcase what he was worth by the COVID19 pandemic, it is a foregone conclusion that he will stand for a second term as ANC President. Whilst radical economic transformation loomed large as a demand by his internal to the ANC adversaries, there was a concomitant demand for organic unity of the movement given the 2017 NASREC election outcome divide. Compounding the attainment of these mandated was the societal demand for a consequence management visible anti-corruption commitment by the ANC.
It follows therefore that apart from giving a political report at the next conference about the changing character of the global society and the fluid balance of forces occasioned by COVID19 , the President must report on RET, Organic Unity and Anti-Corruption. His performance on RET still has a political jury out there and pronouncement thereto has in fact the subject of a new revolution tag line "economic freedom in our lifetime". It is the sheer appeal for consequence management visible anti-corruption measures by society, particularly organised business and civil society, that will make his escapades in this space matter for renewing his internal to the ANC mandate. Divisive as this matter looks like, it is his strategic management of its achievement as a core component of organic unity that will redefine its potency at mandate renewal forums of the ANC.
The Northern Cape speech, read with the Zamani Saul angling on the role of the SG in organisational unity, as well as the crafty manner in which the KZN Provincial leadership has managed the Jacob Zuma support and stepping aside of Zanele Gumede, should be seen as a soft launch on an emerging coalition to renew the President's in-ANC mandate. Organic Unity, like the new Dawn, might well be a new matter for another 'trust fund' to bankroll.
Be ngisho nje. It is Sunday 30 May, 2021
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