The road to Mangaung is fraught with challenges the ANC has perhaps never seen in its 100 years of existence. There have been serious challenges that threatened the very existence of the movement, but these were dealt with thanks to the intervention of our tried and tested leaders. In mind I think of the restlessness the Hani Memorandum caused among some of the leaders in 1969 prior to the Morogoro Consultative conference. Maybe it is correct to state that it was that memorandum that precipitated the Morogoro conference. Barely twenty years thereafter, another problem cropped up, which a verdant leadership collective could have found it impossible to handle viz. the conditions in the camps in Angola, among others, which precipitated the mutiny of 1984 as it is called. Similarly, the Kabwe conference took place thereafter. Again, thanks to the consummate leadership of our father and leader OR Tambo the ANC emerged victorious.
We are faced with problems of a different nature this time. There are disturbing reports of ANC meetings being reduced to battlefields whereby a Comrade or a so-called Comrade fights a Comrade over a difference in their leadership preferences. The much vaunted two-horse race between President Jacob Zuma and the Deputy President Comrade Kgalema has caused a dichotomy in the ranks of the movement. Two distinct warring factions, viz. the Second Term Brigade and the Change Brigade have come to characterise ANC Branch meetings. You are either with us or with them in which case if you find yourself in the wrong Brigade, you are likely to get beaten up or even shot at as it happened in North West. As if not enough, even the President of the country, who is also the President of the ANC, has not been spared the diatribe. The recent insults hurled at the President by Minister Mbalula are but one such example. I am in no way suggesting that it was correct for the former ANCYL leader to insult Comrade Thabo Mbeki who was at that time President of the ANC and the country. Neither do I suggest that President Zuma is infallible and immaculate. Besides, it is worth noting that both the President and his Deputy are the top beneficiaries of the Change Brigade’s triumph over the Third Term Brigade, which favoured Comrade Thabo Mbeki for a third term as President of the ANC.` The difference between the two consultative conferences referred to above and the current situation is that in the case of the former cadres of MK were involved. They understood that the breach of military discipline and that of the movement would not be tolerated regardless of the causative factors for such a breach of discipline. They did what they did knowing fully well that they might have to pay the ultimate price if found guilty. It is not the intention of this paper to discuss the merits of the Hani Memo and the “Mutiny”. The current situation within the movement, however, is a confluence of and therefore complicated by the following factors: - Ill-discipline and lack of respect. There is no regard for seniority and everyone feels they are the best arbiters. The ANC culture of consulting with the elders in cases of dispute has been declared fuddy-duddy ; - Infiltration- we do not know who is who. Came 1990 and the subsequent unbanning of the liberation movements and the SACP, we all became Comrades and swelled the ranks of the ANC. It didn’t matter what role we played prior to the unbanning; - Careerism and corruption; - Opportunistic activism and peace-time heroism; - Factionalism; - Abuse of power and the vulgarisation of the ANC Cadre deployment policy and; - Promotion of the Personality Cult-it is not anomalous today to honour one leader above all the others even their forebears. The current situation portends danger for the NDR. People who carry guns and all sorts of weapons to ANC meetings in particular, do not understand the tradition of the ANC that robust debates are allowed and that differing views shouldn’t be the reason for fights etc. MK soldiers, on the other hand knew that firearms were not meant to instil fear among comrades or even hurt them, but rather to protect the organisation and advance the armed struggle. I am most of the time wondering when these factions that are eating away the glue that is supposed to hold us together as members of the ANC regardless of our leadership preferences, are going to cease to exist. As a former MK cadre I can’t afford to pronounce publicly my leadership preferences if I’m still loyal to the cause of defending the Black, Green and Gold. Mine would be to encourage and promote open and fair discussion about leadership preferences in my Branch and if requested to do so in other Branches. The quest for victory in Mangaung has made us lose sight of some important events that we should be commemorating etc. I am here referring to the execution of Mini, Khayinga and Mkhaba on the 6th November 1964. Maybe as we approach Mangaung this extract from the life of uBaba uVuyisile Mini will serve as a reminder to us all that those heroes and heroines who laid down their lives for us to be where we are today did so for the love of their country and its people and not for personal gain. Even those who see it fit to go about forcing every Dick, Tom and Harry to regurgitate the MK Oath in pursuit of narrow and selfish personal interests should perhaps remember that true MK cadres took the Oath and lived by it to the very last minute of their lives. Besides, the MK Oath is sacrosanct. *[Mini, and his two comrades were offered their lives in exchange for giving information about sabotage activity in their area. Mini wrote:* *”I am presently awaiting execution at Pretoria Central Gaol having been sentenced to death at the beginning of the year. On October 2, 1964, Captain Geldenhuys and two other policemen came to see me. They asked me if I had been informed that my appeal had been dismissed. I told them I was not interested to know from them what my advocate said.* *They then said there was still a chance for me to be saved as they knew I was the big boss of the movement in the Eastern Cape. I must just tell them where the detonators and revolvers were, and they would help me. I refused. They then asked me about Wilton Mkwayi (subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment) and whether I was prepared to give evidence against Mkwayi, whom they had now arrested. I said no, I was not. When they asked would I make the Amandla Ngawethu salute when I walked the last few paces to the gallows, I said yes.'* *Their death sentence provoked an international outcry, and clemency appeals by President Nasser of the United Arab Republic, on behalf of the Non-aligned States, and by Secretary-General U Thant of the United Nations (UN) were unsuccessful. So too were approaches by the UN Special Committee on Apartheid and the UN Security Council. Mini, Wilson Khayinga and Zinakile Mkaba were hanged in the Pretoria Central Prison on 6 November 1964. Mini went to the gallows singing freedom songs, some he had composed. In a spirit of defiance, Mini made a death row statement after an approach by security police to get him to bear witness against comrades. In the same year the apartheid regime also executed other MK combatants, Nolali Mpentse, Daniel Ndongeni and Samuel Jonas].*** Ironically, nothing was said about this sad and unfortunate event at all on Tuesday the 6th November 2012. Not even the ANC leadership said a word about it yet they expect to be elected by the sons and daughters of the very heroes and heroines they do not want to acknowledge, among others. Instead it became another Mandela Day with the release of the new notes bearing uBaba uMandela’s face. Have we forgotten about the sacrifices made by our comrades? Is the succession battle more important than the commemoration of our own heroes and heroines? I long for those in the camps where we commemorated/celebrated important days and events. I got to know about the Mini-Khayinga-Mkhaba execution in the coffee plantations in Angola. The camp Commissar Comrade Che Ogara explained to us the role these heroes played in the struggle for National Liberation. Maybe I’ve lost it, such a thing never happened at all in which case I beg your pardon. Nevertheless, the 6th November should have been one such day whereby we –the ANC and the Alliance- rededicate ourselves to the cause of advancing the National Democratic Revolution (NDR). This is actually the moment I’m wondering what happened to the ANC I joined back in April 1979 after leaving the country. Let us not allow the ANC of OR Tambo etc. to fade into oblivion and forever be a distant memory to those who come after us. Former Commanders and Commissars of the glorious People’s Army uMkhonto weSizwe, adorned with sagacity, let us, despite being marginalised and isolated, play our roles in ensuring that the undying fighting spirit of those who have departed is not forgotten. Let us pick up the Spear and advance the cause of the NDR. Let us continue to expose and isolate those who just want to ingurgitate the fruits of our hard-earned freedom. We know that today it’s about survival. We’ve got families and our maturity and bravery to speak truth to authority might just result in the loss of the much needed income. This, to most of us, is a catch 22 situation and no stupid acts of bravery are encouraged. However, the branches to which we have been consigned are the only safe option we have to try and preach sanity to a very sick ANC without necessarily rocking the boat. Today it’s offensive to wear a T-shirt with the face of the current President because by so doing you are inviting the ire of those who are in positions of power and do not necessarily share your view about leadership succession. Paradoxically enough, before the suspension of the armed we were, just like Mini, Khayinga, Mkhaba and many others, prepared to lay down our lives for the liberation of this country. Sadly we are today afraid to tell our own comrades in positions of power that they are not doing what is expected of them; that they are no longer advancing the cause of the NDR. Where is the “Ndod ‘emnyama” Mini, Khayinga, Mkhaba sang about from the night of the 5thNovember to the following day on their way to the gallows? Where is the tree that Solomon Mahlangu was prepared to nourish with his blood as he approached his death by hanging on the 6th April 1979? What about the comrades who fell in the then Rhodesia both in the Wankie-Sipolilo campaigns and the late 1979 events, which claimed the lives of many comrades en route to South Africa via Rhodesia? the Lion of Chiawelo, the Silverton Trio, Barney Molokwane, Sibusiso Zondo, Mogoerane, Mosololi, Motaung Trio and many others. What are we going to tell generations to come about them? That they were just consequential sacrifices of our revolution? Lastly, the welfare of the dependants of our fallen heroes and those comrades who are destitute and suffer as a result of ill-health is our responsibility seeing that even our MKMVA has been privatised and its ranks swelled with the “new MKMVA” zealots who even reject the notion of recognising the detachments that make up MK. As Shakespeare wrote: “if music be the fruit of love, play on…” Let us compose songs and write poems etc. about these fallen heroes and heroines as we used to do before the unbanning of the movement. Fana Zulu -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. 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