Good article my friend, but after reading this article i am sure that everyone will say i agree with Aphiwe but the challenges you highlight will still persist in next congress. Therefore a question remain in concrete terms what must be done to effect desired change.
On Fri, Jul 6, 2012 at 5:23 PM, VC <[email protected]> wrote: > > [image: ANC Today] > > > *Cohesion in times of factions, money and sins-of-incumbency* > ** ** > ** ** > *Aphiwe Bewana, ANC Today, Johannesburg, 6 July 2012 * > ** ** > *"Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are > presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence > cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely > uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important > to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny > anything that doesn't fit in with the core belief."-* Frantz Fanon**** > ** ** > The fundamental question we have today is how do we programmatically > address the challenges confronting the great majority of South Africans. In > our attempts to comprehend the extent to which the ruling party is fit to > govern; we also need to equally grasp the social condition in which the > ruling party has been operating and evolving in. The ruling party has long > reflected on this: "While it is correct to look at the traditions of the > ANC from years of struggle, we should also acknowledge the new situation > within which we operate as the leading organization in government … This > has thrown up new tasks which are in many ways of a different nature" (ANC: > Challenges of leadership in our phase 1997).**** > ** ** > One of the key challenges facing the ANC has been comprehensively managing > the difficulties of moving from a liberation movement to a party of > government (Friedman 2012). Moreover given the state of unreadiness in > which we found as acknowledged by President Mandela at the opening of the > 1994 Conference, where he admitted that "ours was not a planned entry into > government. Except for the highest echelons… We were disorganized, and > behaved in a manner that could have endangered the revolution".**** > ** ** > The participation and being in a leadership position had changed from a > sacrifice which would translate in harassment, exile, jail time or even > death into a reasonable avenue for many to climb the social ladder. But > even more profound has been the 'death of a cadre' (people changing the ANC > instead of being changed by the ANC). Given this radical shift in social > conditions, I am of the view that the explanation of today's subversion of > organizational culture and organization's internal ills is fundamentally > more than just a function of a lack of political education and leadership. > **** > ** ** > My conviction is that the ANC needed to structurally and practically > re-assess its mode of operation as a whole in adapting to new realities, > particularly in maintaining vibrant internal unity and cohesion. My premise > is the same as the evolutionary science theory advocated by Charles Darwin > which states: "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor > the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most > adaptable to change." One can assume the role of a denialist when we talk > about these core challenges or one can be frank with the hope that we can > learn and attempt to reserve internal damage being done to the > organization; I assume the latter.**** > ** ** > For the purpose of this article I have selected a few crucial internal > problems that continue to haunt our beloved organization and movement. > These problems are factions, money and sins-of-incumbency. Put simply, I am > of a firm belief that most of our challenges within the party are > manifestations of failing to conclusively deal with these problems. The ANC > has long indentified these problems and made the clarion calls for > organizational renewal, however little if any intervention has signaled to > meaningfully addressing and reversing these problems.**** > ** ** > For obvious reasons the depth of manifestations of the problems become > even more pronounced towards elective conferences. As such, rational > thought hints at the fact that if little is done to rectify the structure > of our mode of operation (rules) to at the very least manage these > contractions, then we have a serious problem on our hands. We should not > allow a situation where the ANC is in a state of perpetual disciplinary > hearings.**** > ** ** > In attempting to fundamentally deal with the problems I have mentioned > above, we need to conceptually characterise them concretely and identify > conditions which produce or replicate them. In this regard, the 'sins of > incumbency' can be seen as the temptations of wealth, 'money' as influence > of money in supporting a person or policy view, and 'factions' which can be > viewed as parties within a party. What is of importance to me is the nature > and interplay between these unfortunate factors.**** > ** ** > The general accepted notion is that these challenges exist as > manifestation of an important contest for the soul of the ANC. Moreover, > Prof. Steven Friedman importantly points out that the core issue is the > clash between an antidemocratic form of politics and its opponents. The > good professor further elaborates that a key tactic of this group is the > use of strident nationalist rhetoric to justify a patronage politics that > hopes to use money to gain position and position to gain more money. And > those who practice these politics are hostile to the ANC's left.**** > ** ** > Whilst this analysis may seem sound, it falls short of actually dissecting > the dynamic nature of these 'factions'. Experience in Polokwane showed us > that it is always likely some elements which constitute one faction to sway > to the other side when it is convenient to do so. This therefore leads to > some conclusion that our factions are not rigid and static but can be > heavily influenced by the balance of forces of the day.**** > ** ** > This issue should not only be limited to the fact that these factions do > not differ on ideological or policy direction per se but what influences > their actions. This ought to be one of the most troublesome tenets of how > our factions operate. The issue is that the very same faction that opposes > antidemocratic practices and use of money in our politics is not inherently > immune from committing the same errors it opposes if that meant winning > conference.**** > ** ** > One of the fundamental concepts which theoretically bind the two problems > is determining what is of personal interest versus organizational interest > and how does the organization thus set up rules that enforces a clear mode > of operations. Within the ANC there are now two strands of thought in this > regard with its own implications. One view is advocating for the > organization striving for some convergence between personal and collective > interests whereas another view warrants an individual person's interests > should be superseded by those of the organization.**** > ** ** > If we also agree that to larger extent factions are produced or replicated > by personal interests over-shadowing those of the organization, then it > stands to reason that in line with its traditional roots the ANC ought to > jealously defend the latter perspective and formulate rules to enforce it. > The change needed should be based on structural rules rather than on > rallying or only relying on leadership to one day rise above the 'sins of > incumbency', 'influence of money' and 'factions' in which they are > inherently entangled to. These problems manifest themselves in a lot of > dimensions which in essence derail the organization from programmatically > addressing the challenges confronting the great majority of South Africans. > **** > ** ** > I do believe that one of the useful areas in which the ANC can attempt to > formulate a new set of rules would be how it manages leadership > transitions, managing manifestations of problems I have mentioned above. > What is true is that the current system {mode of operation} is not coping > with the new realities within which the ANC finds itself. The ANC needs to > re-assess how it elects its leadership. Currently after five years a small > fraction of the ANC membership from branches gather to a national congress > to resolve on the policy path and elect leadership.**** > ** ** > Whilst this is necessary and essential in ANC life, I do believe in harsh > factional times it will forever reduce the capacity of the organization to > robustly engage and resolve on policy to address the challenges confronting > the great majority of South Africans. Energies will be spent on leadership > issues, of which I am not arguing are mutually exclusive in any way.**** > ** ** > I do believe the main role of congress is to agree on a policy and how it > will be effectively implemented. The ANC ought to make that the core > business of congress and elections be done at branch level, wherein all the > members will vote and have a direct say in who leads it. The argument is > simple, the current system that we have was appropriate for the struggle > times when the ANC was harassed and exiled and banned. It was appropriate > to convene 'consultative conferences' using proportional representation to > determine delegations and had to discuss and elect leadership in one event. > But it now poses a serious challenge to cohesion in the new social > conditions (i.e. vastness of ANC, diverse and factional interests in ANC, > and winning conference at all cost etc.)**** > ** ** > We are observing that it is forever a difficulty to foster a healthy and > comradely competition for positions, but the system is evolving into a > brutal contest which undermines what the organization stands for. So if we > are frank and honest with each other, we would agree that combining > 'discussion' and 'election' tasks for a fraction of delegates (sometimes > even disputed) in one congress event is problematic. The contestation, > fights and disputes of marginalization and sidelining with regards to > branch audits and delegation audits, especially towards a conference has > become a norm in our organization.**** > ** ** > These tendencies are chopping away the confidence our people have on the > ruling party and more. The change in election task to include all its > subscribed members has the advantages of deepening democracy within the > organization and the nation and subsequently fostering participation of all > members in the functioning of the organization. In that way the > manifestations that get heightened towards the conference can be managed.* > *** > ** ** > In simple ANC must radically transform its posture to reflect the > organization than individuals, i.e. songs, slogans must place an emphasis > on collective not individuals as in times of factions our rich culture and > practice will be subverted for narrow factional gains and threatened our > cohesion.**** > ** ** > *"It is imperative to contest all factions for complete victory, so the > army is not garrisoned and the profit can be total. This is the law of > strategic siege."* - Sun Tzu**** > ** ** > > - *Aphiwe Bewana* is an ANC member in Port Elizabeth Ward 2 > > ** ** > *From: http://www.anc.org.za/docs/anctoday/2012/at26.htm#art2* > * * > * * > * > > * > > -- > You are subscribed. 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