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ANC on the defensive

TEMPEST Mazibuko (not his real name), who is jobless and suddenly finds that the part-time painting jobs he used to survive on are hard to come by nowadays, says he is sick and tired of President Jacob Zuma and the illogical ways of his political party and government.

The accusation levelled at Zuma by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela - that he unduly benefited from the upgrades at his Nkandla private home - has been the straw that broke the camel’s back, with Mazibuko and his family deciding not to vote for the ANC these coming elections.

Nkandlagate is the single worst political scandal that a sitting president has ever been allegedly involved in since South Africa’s all-race elections 20 years ago.

“I love South Africa. I know no one outside South Africa and have never been outside South Africa. So I am bound to be here for the rest of my life,” Mazibuko says.

“But I am actually worried sick at what is going on in our country right now. Corruption has gotten too rife for my liking. Anything can happen.”

Mazibuko owns an RDP home in Tshepiso Phase 4 in the Vaal Township of Sharpeville, known throughout the world for the massacre of more than 69 demonstrators in March 21 1960 by the apartheid police.

Mazibuko says he has heard that ANC members in the area are allegedly selling RDP houses for between R5 000 and R35 000 a unit. The rightful owners of these houses have not received the houses they applied for. He says it is also claimed that these houses have been sold to police officers, who are not supposed to get them.

In addition to this corruption South Africa faces slow economic growth, making it hard for Mazibuko to find a decent job.

Clearly, Mazibuko is not alone in his frustration. There could be thousands - if not millions - of others who share his experiences. Who knows?

In addition, ANC hero Ronnie Kasrils and more than 100 ANC comrades this week came out guns blazing and signed a document called “Sidikiwe! Vukani! Vote No!,” translated as “ We are sick and tired! Wake Up!”

Kasrils said the blunders of former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki were not motivated by greed but political misjudgements.

He implied that Zuma’s mistakes seemed to be driven by self-enrichment.

These are comments made by people I can easily call “ANC insiders”. They were made by people who know exactly what is happening within the ANC.

This criticism, I want to be honest, will come across as very friendly to any real democrat because it is aimed at bringing positive transformation to an organisation under attack.

Name-calling instead of problem solving

If the ANC could ask these comrades to give it details of the problems they have with the movement and try to assist in fixing them, then the image of the party would improve.

But the ANC has become so thin-skinned that it has resorted to name-calling instead.

Gwede Mantashe, the secretary general of the ANC, called Kasrils reckless this week and others went as far as to call him a traitor.

If the ANC was being criticised for a crime it did not commit, it would surely not be bothered by the attacks.
But its attitude towards criticism nowadays has left me thinking that maybe what is being said about it is not far from the truth, and the organisation is aware of it. Otherwise, why react like this?

This means the future for people like Mazibuko is bleak, because the party does not seem to be prepared to fix what it is being criticised of.

 - Fin24

*Mzwandile Jacks is an independent journalist. Opinions expressed are his own.
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