ZIWAPHI • VOL 4 NO 4 • 26 FEBRUARY 11 MARCH 2010
The Task Team that the ANC NEC instituted to investigate allegations of divisions and factionalism in Mpumalanga moved into gear last week.
According to information in Ziwaphi’s possession, the task team, led by former Deputy Secretary General of the ANC, Thandi Modise, has already been to Gert Sibande Region and will this weekend be in Ehlanzeni. It is expected to release its report by the end of March 2010.
The formation of the Task Team has, understandably, placed the beneficiaries of Premier David Mabuza’s administration in a state of panic, because a similar intervention in 1998, led to the recall of former Premier Mathews Phosa, and if the same fate were to befall the current incumbent, it could mean the end of access to their recently found privileges, tenders and a life of luxury.
This sparked a major war which spilled even to the media. The opponents of the current administration seem to have successfully used the media against their less-smarter components. Getting a negative full-page report in the Sunday Times cannot compare to a fifteen minutes of fame in Ligwalagwala FM.
The beneficiaries of the current administration, however, made a smarter move by focusing on the ANC BECs on the ground, and these are the people that the Task Team will be listening to - not the Sunday Times.
Their mistake, however, was their inability to know who their enemy really is.
Some were pointing their finger at Mathews Phosa (without mentioning his name) at Luthuli House, accusing him of being the brains behind the violent service delivery protests. Phosa has since laid a R1 million civil suit against one of the supporters of the status quo. This may impact on their campaign.
Another flaw of their strategy was assaulting people who are perceived to be against the current administration and disbanding democratically established structures of the ANCYL to reduce their influence on the process.
Their strategy to exclude “hostile” branches from attending the sub-regional meetings may also backfire, once the Task Team gets to know about it. By Thursday, some of the BECs were still unaware that there would be sub-regional meetings where the NEC would be starring.
Thandi Modise and her team have their work cut-out for them, and the wisdom of Solomon may not be enough to resolve this.
Whatever the outcome of this latest intervention, mistakes of the past should be avoided, namely removing one faction and replacing it with another.
The current factions have not only left the organisation in a “state of paralysis” as Jackson Mthembu says, but have alienated the very people they should be leading.
Those who fear that they may lose privileges should get comfort that our struggle was never, in the first place, about wealth accumulation for a tiny few.
It surely should be difficult to drive a luxurious German sedan surrounded by a sea of people who live in abject poverty.
After all these are the people who have cast their vote!
By Comrade Phinda Mzala
The NEC Task Team that brings panic
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