Opinion

How we, the ANC, blew it in Western Cape

May 22, 2009 Edition 1

The SACP's call this week for the dissolution of the provincial executive committee indicates that contestation and factionalism continue to bedevil the Western Cape ANC. It is time for the truth to be spoken about what has been happening in the Western Cape ANC, to take the people into our confidence about events that have unfolded in our province over the past five years, write Provincial ANC officials Mcebisi Skwatsha, Lynne Brown, Sipho Kroma, Songeso Mjongile and Max Ozinsky.

The strategic objective of the ANC remains the building of a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous nation at peace with itself. The overwhelming support the ANC received in the recent elections reaffirmed the correctness of these ideals as espoused in the Freedom Charter.

The failure of the ANC to retain the Western Cape in the 2009 elections, however, represents a significant setback to the advancement of these ideals and requires critical evaluation of the subjective and objective factors that contributed to this reality.

The Western Cape ANC laid bare its soul at a post-election gathering in Plettenberg Bay.

What emerged was that the DA victory in the Western Cape represents a major stumbling block to the advancement of national liberation aspirations. It speaks to the profound failure to harness and manage the aspirations of all our people. It speaks to organisational lapses and dysfunctional structures, and lack of a disciplined cadreship focused on common goals.

Our efforts to turn the corner on divisiveness - on the legacies of the Group Areas and Influx Control systems, of job reservation, cultural exclusion and the legacies of apartheid and racism - have been unable to persuade the majority of citizens in the Western Cape to pull together. Many of our citizens are still subject to unemployment, poverty, lack of access to health services, lack of education opportunities, homelessness and squalor, rural marginalisation, crime, drug and alcohol abuse, women and child abuse and many other social ills.

The DA victory in the Western Cape represents a temporary setback in the struggle for an agenda of change, transformation and integration of the people as a whole. For, no matter which party you voted for last month, no observer could dispute that the quality of life in the Western Cape remains structured according to the colour of your skin. The DA policy of equal opportunity is a code for the maintenance of the status quo where privilege and opportunity determines one's ability to progress or not. It is an undeclared caste system where the marginalised will remain outside the political and socio-economic mainstream. The poor will remain spectators to growth.

The nation-building project is marooned in the Western Cape and the level of polarisation has reached an anti-African (black) and anti-ANC bias. The central message of the DA, couched as "Stop Zuma", masked secondary messages about African people invading from Eastern Cape and monopolising access to resources such as houses and jobs.

The DA's message of fear equates Africans with the ANC and with notions of corruption, and a lack of respect for the law. It has defined itself as the voice and protector of minority communities - whites, coloureds and Indians. At the same time as the DA built a coalition of opposition parties, it swallowed their public representatives through patronage and eroded their electoral base.

The key message is that uncivilised Africans want to wrest the last European outpost from white liberal dominance. These divisions are so severe that were it to be put to a referendum right now, the majority of citizens would support a Unilateral Declaration of Independence - The Republic of the Western Cape.

It is the historical task of the ANC and every patriot to build non-racialism now, to create a balanced and sustainable society for our children and grandchildren. The course we are presently on can only build resentment.

If the ANC is to lead the process of building non-racialism in the province, the ANC must first address the issue of divisions in its own ranks. Not just to build structures and win votes in the short-term but to acknowledge the negative effect our own internal divisions have had. We must acknowledge the consequence of the contest towards Polokwane Conference and the last Provincial Conference, and how this directly led to the formation of Cope.

Most of all, we must understand the political dynamics that led to the elected leadership of the ANC in the Western Cape being labelled "Africanists" - and coloured citizens voting in droves for the DA.

History will record the extent to which the ANC made mistakes when it was finally given the chance to govern the Western Cape in 2004. The extent to which the organisation was subverted by ambition for power, business interests, abuse of the state machinery and manipulation of media to advance narrow selfish interests leaves much to be desired.

The recall of the former premier could not be avoided for the ANC to move forward.

In mid-2008 Comrade Ebrahim Rasool was recalled and Comrade Lynne Brown installed as Western Cape premier. With just eight months to go before the 2009 elections Brown was instructed by the ANC executive to build on the considerable, delivery achievements of her predecessor, while at the same time restoring order and legitimacy to the provincial government.

We are proud of our record in government under Brown and her executive, which set a benchmark for good governance in the province. We doubt the DA will measure up to this standard but we will hold them to account.

Last year was a most painful year for the ANC in the Western Cape. The truth is we were severely hurt in the build-up to the formation of Cope. That is where the ANC lost many coloured supporters. Many boycotted our provincial conference last year, and ultimately voted for the DA.

Our organisation, and our branches, suffered. The pre-elections 2009 period was studded by regular media articles reporting that prominent coloured ANC members - and members of their families - were joining Cope. The underlying message was that coloured members were leaving the ANC because of its undemocratic leadership and their Africanist ways.

Then, to compound the ANC's difficulties, the party failed to timeously register candidates for municipal by-elections late last year.

This was the context in which Luthuli House deployed a team of NEC members to oversee the election effort in the Western Cape, and a Provincial Election Team was established under Comrade Chris Nissen.

The non-racial spine of the ANC has been severely compromised in the province by this process and the collateral damage in the contestation for leadership and access to government resources now, ironically, lost with the loss of power to the DA.

It is for these and other reasons that the ANC will with immediate effect embark on a programme of renewal by rebuilding its structures, reaching out to all communities and providing effective opposition to the DA's Western Cape government. ANC controlled municipalities will focus on meeting their service delivery targets and working together with communities to build a better life for all.

The ANC has declared war on all forms of racism, factionalism and power mongering tendencies, starting from the top by promoting collective decision making. We have to discourage gate keeping and have an inclusive approach to all members, including those who left for other parties.

The ANC will focus on mobilising and educating its members and communities on non-racialism and nation building. It has designed a cadre development programme that will focus on building leadership skills, paying particular attention to the growth and progress of women leaders.

But, perhaps most important for our province, was the decision to place non-racialism at the core of our existence; to embark on programmes to interact with all communities and sectors in order to genuinely look at how, together, we can build a better province.

We will reach every constituency, every community and every home as we gather our momentum for the long walk to the 2011 municipal election.