A Party In Chaos . . . Now What?

With Jacob Zuma at its helm, the ANC has never been more divided. We ask the experts where the party is headed.

- Gabisile Ngcobo And Sabelo Ndlangisa

NELSON Mandela must be turning in his grave. How is it possible that the party he sacrificed most of his life for has been reduced to this – an organisation riddled with corruption, nepotism and factionalism, led by people more interested in securing their seat on the gravy train than looking after the people who voted them into power?

What will it take for alarm bells to ring within the ANC and for the once-proud liberation movement to get its house in order? So far damning ratings agency downgrades – which saw South Africa being relegated to junk status – haven’t raised red flags. Nor have the rolling protests following President Jacob Zuma’s ill-advised cabinet reshuffle, which saw him firing respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan.

Every week the calls for Zuma’s resignation are intensifying. But if you think the president’s removal from power will solve all the problems within the ANC, instantly putting SA on a better path, you’re mistaken, political pundits warn.

Even former president Thabo Mbeki has broken his silence to weigh in on the issue.

“If you removed President Zuma – let us say just hypothetically – it would change nothing . . .” he said in a recent interview. “You need to look at the whole national executive committee (NEC) and the decisions and actions they’ve taken and not taken.”

The truth of the matter is that Zuma is still president because the 104 members of the NEC have chosen to let him keep his job despite growing public dissatisfaction.