SOUTH AFRICA - QUO VADIS

SOUTH AFRICA - QUO VADIS

4th National General Council (NGC) of the ANC - 9th to 12th October 2015

                                                                                        Stes de Necker

South Africa's problems are bigger and more deep-rooted than what most South Africans wants to believe. As long as this minority political elite remains in government, and in power, it is unlikely that any significant improvement in the prevailing conditions will occur in the near future.

How is it possible that thousands of foreign visitors, who visited South Africa a decade ago, are avoiding this country totally today?

How is it possible that so many foreign investors, who a decade ago, was still so excited to invest in South Africa, took their investments elsewhere?

How is it possible that peaceful marches and protest demonstrations can nowadays, within the space of minutes, degenerate into violence and mayhem?

Where did it all go so wrong?

The best example of one such ill is surely the government's controversial tender system. It provides the opportunity for every friend and family member of the ruling elite to obtain extremely lucrative contracts, the vast majority of which are never carried out, or otherwise being performed so poorly that the work or service needs to be redone anyway.

For those who are not sufficiently blood related to the ruling elite, there is always the possibility of a lucrative position somewhere in the ANC's cadre deployment. Once you’re in that position, theft and corruption is also not that big a problem.  

At the very worst you can be suspended, with full pay, which means that for the next ten years you can sit at home and do nothing. By the time the inept legal process eventually commence, so much time has already been lost that any trial or hearing instituted against you will inevitably be found to be unfair and unlawful, with the result that there is little or no chance that you will ever be found guilty of the charges against you!

Inequitable black economic empowerment, affirmative action and land reform were, and still is, the greatest evils in the ANC political culture.

South Africa is littered with failed agricultural projects while millions of economic development funds ended up in the pockets of corrupt ANC leaders and supporters.

Once highly productive agricultural land lie uncultivated and unproductive today. The ruins and rusty implements and equipment of once thriving farming units, serve little more than forgotten tombstones of once vibrant and economically active farming communities.

Self-enrichment and personal interest is the order of the day. The inability of the government to take effective action at the stage when they were suppose to do it, caused this ill to proliferate to the point that one gets the impression that there exist a belief  that, if you do not grab your share now, don’t cry the day when there is no longer anything left to grab!

Corruption, in all organs and levels of government, certainly has the best profit to risk ratio in South Africa, since less than 5% of all corruption cases are successfully prosecuted in our courts.

In the 21 years since the end of white minority rule, South Africa has rarely looked so shaky.

Mining, the bedrock of the old economy, is in crisis as costs rise and commodity prices fall.

Wildcat strikes are spreading across the industry and into other sectors.

Companies are losing production, and the recognized unions, with which business was able to barter in the past, have lost influence over the labour force.

Equally worrying, the political atmosphere is not only charged but increasingly poisonous.

Opportunists such as Julius Malema, the former youth leader of the African National Congress and now  leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, a South African political party, which he founded in July 2013, is exploiting a leadership vacuum to publicize the broader failures of the post-apartheid state and whip up support from the disenfranchised.

There is much that is great about South Africa, not least the peaceful transition from apartheid and the spirit of tolerance that has existed since.

But Zuma has failed to grasp how this legacy is now under threat nor has he understood that the current crisis is a symptom of much deeper malaise. Instead he has put off dealing with the thornier issues until the ANC’s 4th National General Council (NGC) from 9th to 12th October 2015 at Gallagher Estate, Midrand Gauteng. 

The discussion document  for the NGC that will meet in October, underlines several major concerns for the party including:

Sliding majority

“The ANC’s leadership status and role are under threat; and other political forces
seek to exploit its weaknesses to dislodge it,” the document said.

It noted that the electoral trends reflect an ANC that, at above 60%, enjoys the support of the overwhelming majority of voters.

However, from the last two national elections, the ANC has shed support, coming down from 69.7% in 2004, to 65.9% in 2009 and 62.2% in 2014, it said.

In the same period, the DA has been gaining support, while breakaways from the ANC (COPE and now EFF) have received significant support.

Factionalism

For the ANC to “continue to serve and lead the people”, it should have organisational capacity and a corps of cadres who are able to give leadership to society at large.

“Factionalism and ‘money politics’ were identified as some of the critical weaknesses sapping the very revolutionary core of the organisation,” the paper said.

Corruption

The document said that when there is repetitive poor management of allegations of corruption and patronage within high leadership echelons, the legitimacy of the state and the polity as such are undermined.

“Indeed, over the past few years a general impression of systemic corruption has been created, ranging from unsavoury developments in State-owned Enterprises, strange machinations within security and tax authorities, to unconvincing responses to admonitions for accountability by relevant Constitutional bodies.”

The document said that what seems to be new, with major implications for state legitimacy, is how deeply-entrenched corrupt practices – driven by a few state employees, public representatives and the private sector – and arrogance by some in leadership positions have become, directly affecting social delivery.

“This finds expression especially, but not exclusively, at local government level.”

Wealth distribution

“Widening disparities in income, wealth, and opportunities have risen to the top of our concerns,” the paper said.

“We have focused on confronting inequality of opportunity, focusing on access to education and health and inequality in human capital, however much still needs to be done.”

Inequality of income is also a function of the distribution of economic assets and their rates of return.

“The distribution of wealth and income is largely still characterised by the racial and gender demographics of the colonial past.”

Infrastructure projects

Given the paucity of resources available in the fiscus – in this current period of low economic growth and a huge budget deficit – it will be necessary to ensure proper prioritisation and sequencing of state interventions, the ANC document said.

“It is also necessary to find creative ways of drawing in the private sector in realising some of the objectives such as urgent infrastructure projects.”

Monopolies vs SMEs

The huge concentration and centralisation of capital, with monopolies dominating most sectors of the economy, and some of them engaging in uncompetitive practices, is a major challenge, the ANC said.

Small, medium and micro-enterprises do not enjoy the same broad proportion of GDP as in other developing countries, the discussion document said.

The immediate conundrum is not an easy one. It may be possible for the government to win some breathing space by buying the workers and population off with some more empty promises, but sooner or later the reality will catch up political hogwash. 

   

Restructuring the whole economy is the bigger and more important challenge. A small elite within the ANC has in effect bought into the apartheid economy it found in 1994.

Remarkably, South Africa in terms of income distribution has become even more unequal since.

What is needed to address that is much more than a debate about wages.

Radical reforms to education, the labour market, business regulation and land ownership are needed to spur labour intensive sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture. South Africa’s growth has come from a high of five percent to a level going below two percent, which falls far short of what is needed to absorb the legions of unemployed.  

The necessary reforms will be painful. But deferring them, as the ANC wants to do, is not an option if further unrest is to be avoided. When the party meets for its annual congress, it will decide whether Mr. Zuma is the man to chart the course. South Africa should be at the forefront of continental growth. But for too long the ANC has deferred the tough decisions.

That is why South Africa is now at a dangerous impasse.

In a recent edition of Business Day, DR LUCAS NTYINTHYANE of Bloemfontein wrote:

“Violence and the daily dose of errors by political leadership are symbolic of a bigger and deeper malaise. Only those living in cloud cuckoo land will say everything is kosher.

Our country has become a comedian's paradise. A comedy of errors that is denting our image.

Commentators and analysts are pointing to the lack of political leadership. Everything else is a symptom of an absent leadership. It started with Thabo Mbeki.

Please don't blame President Jacob Zuma. It is not his fault. In an ideal world, Mr Zuma should have been banned from entering the Union Buildings. He is not fit to lead this country. Neither are Kgalema Motlanthe, Thabo Mbeki, Tokyo Sexwale or Mathews Phosa. They are part of the problem and cannot offer any viable leadership solution. Thanks to the selfishness of the African National Congress (ANC), we have Mr Zuma as a president.

Mr Zuma and the ANC, you don't own the country. You manage it on behalf of the electorate. This means a responsible, answerable leadership.”

This feeling of dissatisfaction is not limited to South Africa only.

The National Chairman of the Australian Protectionist Party, Andrew Phillips, called upon both the Federal Labour government and the Opposition to unanimously support the re-introduction of sanctions upon South Africa.

"It is becoming increasingly clear the situation in South Africa warrants international attention once again", Phillips said. "Despite noble announcements by the African National Congress (ANC) of its intent to make South Africa an egalitarian society in which all people could live in harmony and have equal opportunity-the reality is quite different."

His calls follow Woolworths SA asking that only "African Black candidates" apply for certain posts in job advertisements and South African Airways saying it will only appoint black pilots to its cadet pilot training programme.

Phillips said "Australia is dragging its feet in recognising the reality of the New South Africa. Euro MPs Barry Madlener and Lucas Hartong have already called for the EU to cease giving millions in aid to South Africa and have already raised the issue of what can only be described as cultural genocide in that country."

The Australian Protectionist Party recognises the right of all people, irrespective of racial, cultural or religious background to a safe homeland, self determination and the opportunity to control their national destiny in an increasingly globalised world.

"With the advent of so-called majority rule, minorities such as the Afrikaner communities are experiencing ever increasing disadvantage and persecution based on the colour of their skin.  

"The South African government has done little to protect the lives of the nation's farmers and their families, actively promotes the on-going Anglicisation of the nation's government sector.   

"Australia was quick to take the moral high-ground against South Africa decades ago, now is not the time to expose our hypocrisy by refusing to re-introduce sanctions and apply meaningful diplomatic pressure upon the ANC regime,"

South Africa’s Constitution is recognized throughout the world as one of the best constitutions in the world. Everybody involved was pleased and proud to have been a part of it. Two of the leaders were even awarded Nobel Peace Prizes.

But now it seems that some of our ANC leaders are uncomfortable with the Freedom Charter and the Constitution. They claim to live by the rule of law, but when the law isn’t on their side, they’re happy to bend, ignore, or even break it.

The ANC still shouts that they want to reduce crime and corruption. That they want to improve the education and health systems. That they want to reduce unemployment and to provide homes for the homeless.

So why don’t they do it!

Or is it all just about who gets to ride in fancy official cars and fly free in first-class on SAA? Is it about who gets to live in large official residences and attend lavish dinners?

None of these things are mentioned in the Freedom Charter or the Constitution.

The question the ANC must ask itself is: Do the majority of the people of South Africa still vote for the ANC because they believe in the policies of the party, or because the ANC was the mechanism which freed them from oppression in 1994.

The preamble to the Freedom Charter makes it very clear:

That South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of the People. 

In its discussion document for the NGC meeting, the ruling party has admitted that it has concerns about its waning support, following the general elections in May last year.

The question is: Does the ANC really still represent the will of the people?