ANC’s ‘step-aside’ rule must step aside in favour of honesty

• Published date: 17 April 2022
• Publication title: Weekend Argus

This triggered unwarranted revulsions and “shock” from divergent quarters in the fold of the ANC and, funnily, even in the ranks of the DA. It has been my view that this issue has not been properly thought through and the implementation of this “rule” would backfire. And it has

At the heart of this controversy lies the hypocrisy and inconsistency in terms of the real motives for the application of this rule.

These un-ANC motives rest on proxy politics in terms of which foreign forces have captured the organisation of Pixley Ka Isaka Seme. I cannot resist the temptation to, once again, refer to the statement by the ANC’s eThekwini mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda: “If you say I am a RET force, it means you are a Rupert force.” This sums up the context of this rule.

Last year, in the Sunday Independent of February 28, I warned it would worsen the chaotic situation in the party if implemented. At that time, there were moves to get the now-suspended general secretary, Ace Magashule, Gumede (then eThekwini mayor) and then-MP Bongani Bongo to step aside.

It was clear the gusto with which the implementation of this rule was pushed was motivated by selfish factional interests rather than the “renewal” of the organisation. It was inevitable that one faction would (ab)use this rule to fumigate members of the other faction out of the organisation.

I retrace my steps and revisit that commentary of last year. This is what I said then: “The haphazard call for cadres to ‘step aside’ on the basis of some so-called integrity issues is extraneous, if not problematic. It’s such a strange thing, to say the least. Unfortunately, the organisation has slipped into this muddy terrain, and will not come out of it without immolating itself.”

I had already imagined the intractable fissures within the party would make this kind of intervention or rule be weaponised. In this respect, I predicted that “this integrity thing, used as a tool for pursuing factional battles in the ANC, is going to explode right in their faces”.

The emergence of Gumede and Msibi in the recent elections is therefore not surprising. In fact, I am shocked some people are shocked about these outcomes. It’s a pity there is no open and honest discourse on this matter, and people are thus stuck in binary mental camps, with the dominant narrative that sponsors the neo-liberal faction (Rupert forces?) obstinately denigrating any voice sympathetic to the other faction (RET forces?).

What is problematic about the step-aside rule...