The ANC National Executive Committee has one coloured and one white woman out of 80 people.
There are two ways of analysing this.
First, minorities do not want to partake in ANC activities due to the corruption and scandals.
Secondly, the ANC exposed its tribalism by rejecting minority participation.
The first opinion is based on a reality that since 1994, Billions have been stolen, wasted and misused to such a degree that minorities may consider the Apartheid propaganda as genuine. This suggested that corruption, wastage, the abuse of authority was normal within African governance practice.
Since everyone generalizes, blacks in governance can be measured with the same yardstick that blacks measure whites. This suggests that if every white is a potential racist then every black is potentially corrupt. Generalities can be tested and dismissed if evidence was absent.
Example, about 20 yrs. ago I was a Chairman of an ANC branch. Increasing the branch authority required signing-up more members. However, a battle raged between Ebrahim Rasool and Mcebisi Skwatcha. Since I sided with Rasool, increasing branch membership was a tough as Rasool did not control the administration who made the process difficult. Membership was minimised as building the ANC was not important. From experience, it was obvious ANC leaders prefer to fight each other and not build the ANC. After many attempts and like many minority leaders, I gave up on the ANC.
Secondly, qualifications, ability and experience do not matter inside the ANC but factional loyally is everything. That is why, when a faction wins, it eliminates the “other faction”. This leads to endless cycles of purging and thus no time for service delivery since factional fighting is a fulltime activity.
The above opinion is proven with simple evidence. Study where the ANC has complete authority and no real competition but cannot deliver services or receive clean audits. This happens as the leaders choose full-time factional conflict or they lack the ability and skills to deliver services. Thus from the evidence, service delivery is unimportant to the ANC but factional fighting is essential.
To save the ANC is easy but requires effort, integrity and commitment to reality. Example, employ qualified and capable people and remove ineptitude. Deliver services and allow those who did the work to take credit and let them win support from people with a proven history of service delivery.
When a person has failed, replace them with qualified people. Redeploying stupidity is unfair to those who pay rates and tax and those who need the service delivery for which they pay.
Cllr Yagyah Adams
Cape Muslim Congress