How can a political party whose democratic principles are in paralysis be a champion of democracy and accountable leadership? The events which unfolded during last weekend’s ANC Youth League’s provincial congress are just some of the many symptoms of a lack of democracy within the ruling party.
How can a political party whose democratic principles are in paralysis be a champion of democracy and accountable leadership? The events which unfolded during last weekend’s ANC Youth League’s provincial congress are just some of the many symptoms of a lack of democracy within the ruling party.
From registration to catering, everything was excessively controlled to yield the desired outcome. What outcome, you may be wondering?
The election of a Malema-alligned Ayanda Matiti as the Eastern Cape’s youth leader, something which will certainly pave the way for Malema’s reelection at the league’s next national congress.
On Friday night I watched in disbelief as delegates had to be escorted by “someone” (according to security ) to enter the gates of Noluthando Hall where registration for the conference was taking place.
A select few would tell the security personnel at the gate that the person they are bringing is “mine” and they would be registered either as a delegate or as a member of staff.
What I found particularly peculiar about this practice was that these few provincial leaders were from Matiti’s faction and that their delegates were not asked to produce their Identity Documents at the gate as is usually the case.
On Saturday morning a convoy of minibuses carrying delegates converged in and around TEM Mrwetyana Senior Secondary School for a “caucus”.
Upon enquiry I discovered that these delegates were perceived to be part of the anti- Malema faction. No bookings for accommodation or meals were made for this group.
The blame for this falls squarely on the shoulders of the party’s National Executive Committee which organised the conference. I soon learnt that there is no room for dissent in the ruling party, as dissidents (whether real or perceived) were left out of the party’s processes. This should explain why many a member of the
ruling party has resorted to courts of law to reverse some decisions which they perceived to be unconstitutional (at best) and authoritarian at worst.
The latest such action was taken by none other than the league’s disbanded provincial leadership. I can safely say, without any fear of contradiction, that the nation has not seen the last of these.
This modus operandi sets the party light years apart from what it was 16 years ago when it encouraged freedom of expression as the sole means to a robust discussion.
The death of democracy in the party signals the beginning of an era where only the party’s bosses will enjoy the human rights enshrined in our hard-won constitution such as the right to information and free expression.
Last weekend’s congress achieved nothing more than a mere election of provincial leadership. I was apalled to note the extent of the leaders’ indifference towards issues of youth development.
None of them bothered to explain the steps they are taking to ensure that the impact of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) is felt in the province, and more particularly whether there’ll be an NYDA office in Makana Municipality.
They are obsessed with occupying positions of power and fighting among themselves. I’m very worried about the lack of internal democracy in the ANC as this will definitely endanger our national democracy. You should be too.
Kwanele Butana is a former Grocott’s Mail municipal reporter and is currently the editor of the Citizen Journalism project at Grocott’s Mail.
