The Essence of Renewal (just thinking)

 As we describe the nature of political opposition developing around, within, and out of us, we should appreciate that our character as an organisation will have to change as an outcome of the renewal journey we have embarked upon. A decision to renew an organisation is complete if it runs towards its criticism. The truth that comes from criticism should be confronted head-on. 

Renewal is not just a theoretical concept; it's a practical call to action. It requires a complete reorientation of our organization towards its core values and objectives. For the ANC, this means more than just implementing policies; it means living and breathing the very essence of the South African Constitution in our daily actions and decisions. 

As a liberation movement and political party, it is threatened by factionalism, the multiple oncoming sub-national elections before 16 December 2027, sophisticated ethnic divisions, the national question, a grossly underperforming and unequalised economy, corruption, poverty, unemployment, inequality, and numerous other challenges. The milestones of and about the renewal will manifest in the quality and calibre of regional and provincial executive committees that will be elected to feed into the 2027 National Elective Conference. It will be other filtering criteria beyond qualifications and mandatory programs from the OR Tambo School that will make the difference. 

 

Our path to renewal is a paradox, as we must look both backwards and forwards. Our history and tradition, the very fabric of the ANC, are not to be discarded but to be learned from. Honest introspection is our guide, leading us to new paths of renewal for the movement. Our elected representatives, the movement's most visible faces, and appointed officials in organs of state play a crucial role in this. They must embark on a path of personal and national renewal. The strength of the ANC's history and tradition, and its ability to address its mistakes and flaws, lies in how its leadership, as individuals, represent the ANC through their conduct. 

 

The success of our national renewal is contingent on the unwavering commitment of ANC leaders at all levels. It's not enough to simply affirm a civic covenant; we must make the founding values of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the obligations imposed by the Constitution's preamble absolute and universal. This responsibility extends to all, including those who are victims of the sins of their forefathers. As we strive to realize the ideals of the Constitution, we must ensure that no one is left behind. 

 

The crisis of legitimacy manufactured out of the Zondo Commission report and many other investigations reports are minuscule compared to the social, cultural, and economic genocide unleashed on the majority of South Africans for the past three centuries. The impact of structural exclusion concerning human competence is still a function of the low, competitive character of the economy, save for the supply of hewers of mineral resources. 

 

For almost a century, the ANC's power and influence stemmed from tangible liberatory policies that its followers saw, measured, and generally controlled. Society, particularly youth, could be conscripted to its ideals of a better life for all. For the better part of this period, almost 70% of it has been illegal, hunted, and declared part of the axis of terror by association. In its current state, it commands not only its legality as an intangible source of power but also the legitimate authority to govern as the party with the majority of votes despite it not being absolute power. 

 

With command of 70% of South Africa's executive authority, a new, post-2024 opposition complex not hostile to its foundational policy prescripts, and corruption and malfeasance blame fatigued leadership; it has passed the point of failure in its renewal journey. 

 

The unfolding GNU power sharing, by coalition consensus, and the arrangements to govern South Africa provide a short window to change the balance of forces that have been liquidating renewal efforts. The ANC must now lead from the centre of a network instead of being on top of a hierarchical pyramid of absolute power. Those at the edges of the power, by choice of wanting to be a new opposition complex, should be allowed in by taking on board their otherwise ANC-birthed perspectives, albeit radicalised. The extra time it takes to run an idea by others or ensure that the right people, including your adversaries, are in the loop is what the ANC has historically known to be time spent weaving a web of inclusion and accountability to its ideas. This is how it built the largest coalition against apartheid, with the reward of it now being classified as a global crime against humanity. With similar finesse, its renewal program can be anchored on economic imperialism and its adjuncts as a form of crime against humanity. 

 

To create a new brigade anchored on its renewal program, the ANC should recreate a central ideational and institutional power structure within itself to undermine the split-authority structure of its ideological leverage. On the other hand, the GNU must be seen as the strategic push for a more pluralistic South Africa, one in which more diverse organisations and voices drive policy and change, must come from citizens, "we the people", themselves. It is "the reciprocal ties of being or building a nation. However, we define it, and community, wherever we find it, which is as fundamental an element of the South African character as individual striving". Nelson Mandela sums it up thus: "It is in y(our) hands."

 

Renewal is, therefore, in the ANC's hands to the extent that it wins the more minor battles that ate away its support. The chirping sounds of discontent amongst its members about the inconsistent application of its member integrity management systems is the lowest hanging yet complex to plug out fruit. With the executive authority it commands, more minor battles include changing the electoral system to a fully constituency-based system where valid majority rule can reign. 

As members of the ANC, we know that our organisational systems are broken. We know branches are far from being functional that we can boldly call the basic units of the organisation. We know the criminal element has captured our branches, and some of them have turned into sophisticated vigilante groups which are responsible for the growing voter boycott of the system. Yet, to remove any of these obstacles requires renewal policies or resolutions that cannot pass precisely because our system is broken. CUT!!