Is the ANC in decline? Blessing Mphela answers Squire Mahlangu. It depends...

In a conversation between Blessing Mphela and Squire Mahlangu about the State of the ANC, a number of insights emerged. These indicated the expanding dearth of an organisation that might be living in the shadow of its glorious past. An organisation that might be feeding itself off its own, it might be cannibalising the skill full within its ranks, or rather ignoring the wealth of past experience it has shelved for reasons not yet revealed. Here under is an answer to a question by Squire Mahlangu (SQ) to Blessing Mphela (BM).

SQ: "We used to elect leadership on the basis of commitment to the struggle. Now we elect on the basis of what's in it for me"

Blessing Mphela retorts: "Yes Cde Squire we used to. You would remember that even during the early period of struggle there was emphasis on administrative skills training...We produced our own propaganda material, banners and newspapers. Pretoria had the Eye which was run by Cde Titus Mafolo and Kgaugelo Lekgoro. 

We had SASPU National and Weekly Mail representing different strain of thoughts. We worked in unions and learnt how to organise. We drafted our own recognition agreements (using a typewriter) without the assistance of lawyers.  I (recently) read one of those agreements today and was pleasantly suprised that they can withstand legal scrutiny even today. 

There was a course offered by the Wits Business School called Industrial Relations...We read on our own and implemented what we learnt. I remember the first major recognition agreement we signed with the Lion Match Company in Rosslyn( not far from where you (SQ) were working- BMW) in 1982. We were treated to tea and biscuits and we kept arguing between ourselves whether it was in keeping with revolutionary morality to accept tea offered to us by the employers and how the workers were going to perceive us( Issy Moto, Lolo Ditshego and myself) Donsi Khumalo had just broken away from us ( Gwusa- Macwusa) to form his own NGU (we mocked him and called it NKU- meaning sheep). 

It was at the time Sam Kikine also broke up from SAAWU and formed his rebel union in KZN . Factions don't just start today- we had many breakaway factions of this or that organisation. The point here is that we ran these organisations without funding and they were pretty much well run.

Running organisations effectively should be considered part of our revolutionary duty. It is fatal to the cause of any revolution to become lax, reckless or unaccountable in the conduct of any revolutionary struggle. The discipline learnt in struggle includes time- management- you couldn't be late for anything- lest your lateness be interpreted to mean something...suspicion of being set up. Remember the many debates, even ludicrous ones, between Bra Moss Chikane and the late, very flamboyant Kanakana?

I personally worked briefly with the TG, Mendi Msimang when the ANC headquarters were still at Shell House. The level of organisation there...very outstanding...I had to submit a well substantiated annual budget and monthly requests for drawdowns. We kept records of expenditure even for petty cash. I ensured that we did basic bookkeeping, on a month to month basis. We did own bank reconciliation , cash book and ledger accounts, including trial balances and sending those to the TG to justify expenditure. 

You can't run an organisation without systems of accounting at least that is what I learnt about the late  TG in my encounter with him. Whenever we had meetings with him, and this I did through the SG' s office( Kgalema Motlhanthe) , it was evident from Kgalema' s sense of urgency and uneasiness that we were not just meeting an ordinary man.

How did we relapse? How did the culture of laxity, lack of accountability, self- help, etc find its way into the bone and marrow of the organisation? Where and when did it start at the very headquarters- to an extent where it threatens its very existence? Surely a party which aims to govern a country must at least be able to govern its affairs? I have gone to Luthuli on a few occasions. It is not the nicest place to be.

The last point...when the survival of any organisation depends on the generosity of a single individual and not on its ability to sustain itself, he most advanced signs of atrophy are there."

Blessing Mphela continues: "The ANC is a government of the day, a ruling party. Its members should vote based on the interests of the organisation... even burial societies in the village do that... they don't just elect anybody, they consider skill and reliability...how the more so should be the case for a ruling party?

But the signs of decline were always there. I met some of the delegates a day before the 2017 NASREC conference at a posh hotel in Sandton City. There were hundreds of them. When people are readying themselves to take important decisions affecting a country it should be clearly evident in their state of mind and level of preparation (the ones I met were in a state of just wanting to elect per slate).

Policy making and leadership for any organisation cannot and should not happen fortuitously. During our student days we spent sleepless nights debating the kind of leaders we wanted to elect and this was based on their political maturity, leadership skills( conflict resolution, character, personality and demeanour) loyalty, commitment. We canvassed our views with other and regions/ provinces. It was easy to arrive at a commonly held position through robust debates. 

No organisation that regards itself as leader of society should ever treat its leadership issues casually. The type of people we have in municipalities, I dare say in government, are a reflection of the very leadership we have in the country, and we cannot be surprised. No ruling party should be debating things like its constitution, ethical code, disciplinary codes, moral and ethical standards, and so on, these questions are normally resolved at a founding stage of any organisation.

The laxity in basic discipline leads to greater problems, today it is in doubt whether the ANC still adheres to its founding principles. This is why there are inconvenient questions raised at ANC meetings, towering them and amplified by Thabo Mbeki, is "Do we still have the ANC?"  It is a principle and value question, it cannot be ignored. When you elect leaders it is normally assumed that the "how to run an organisation" ( elementary admin and finance) skills are presumed to be well taken care of, but not with the current ANC.

This problem exists, even at the level of government, which is extremely disconcerting and worrisome. When government appoints senior managers (DGs DDGs, Chief Directors and Directors) it does so on the basis of the competency framework for  senior management. Now the competency framework includes, among others, strategic and financial management. It is therefore presumed that senior managers bring with them requisite management skills like financial management, they are paid huge salaries for the skills they offer.

When they get clean audits it shouldn't even be regarded as good performance, it is part of what they should offer or deliver. It is their management responsibility. It is normal performance for which they earn a salary. Failure to get clean audits should be viewed in a very serious light, as a point of departure, unless the problem is historical. For instance, poor inventory or assets register such as state property or land could at some point be condoned as a difficult to resolve, but that too, should have had time frames, it cannot be a perennial problem.

Getting a clean audit( financial indicators) but failing to meet objectives (the object of public policy) is an oxymoron. A budget is a numerical statement of objectives When there is a huge chasm between expenditure and attainment of stated objectives the reporting entity has a huge management problem. This problem is endemic in government departments and SoEs. We have a huge management challenge in this country and while we pay an arm and a leg to managers , the level and quality of services to communities is deteriorating.

And the Unions are never concerned about the quality of life of South Africans, but about what government pays to their membership. The DPSA has just released its report indication that 3000 senior managers in the public service do not meet basic educational requirements (minimum entry requirements to function in those posts).  At what cost to the public and the efficiency of the entity's that?

The organisation of the state and its provisioning requirements is constantly undermined and subverted. It starts at the highest office, the tone is set at that level, then it cascades to ministries , some of whom treat Public Entities as their close corporations. The entities fail in their preferred mandate to execute public policy- as evidence by the tussle between various Ministries of law enforcement and the price that the general populace had to pay..

Total management must happen at the ruling party and in government. There is no excuse for laxity. There can be no renewal in tone only, the whole party and government  structures must be redesigned and repurposed to meet massive developmental challenges of our modern day society.

The tone must be set somewhere."

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