Siseko Maposa
It is known that liberation movements face tremendous difficulties in democratising.
The hubris of ideologies used to conjure hope in the battle for liberation are often the antithesis to the virtues of the emerging democratic party.
At the heart of the tension is the cadre who is presented with a huge ask.
Rejecting past ideologies is tantamount to rejecting oneself, adopting new and fitting ideologies is to step into the unknown.
The ANC has faced difficulties in determining what kind of member it needs in its democratic existence. Recognising this complexity, in 2005 while addressing the ANC at the national staff lekgotla, then president Thabo Mbeki told delegates that the ANC needed a “new type of cadre”.
Mbeki said that in the post-apartheid era a new cadre no longer implied that “one would be killed, arrested, tortured, and exiled”.
He said that type of cadre would need to be empowered in order to participate in the process of giving birth to a new South Africa.
Mbeki envisioned a democratic ANC cadre – one willing to be ruled by party democratic principles and values.
What Mbeki failed to grasp at the time was the tremendous appeal of the “Struggle cadre” who operated through militarism during the ANC’s 1952 defiance campaign.
After liberation day, the ANC’s romanticisation of the Struggle cadre, who fought against white domination and victoriously “triumphed” over apartheid, easily extended to the post-apartheid understanding of the cadre.
It is this kind of Struggle cadre who springs to mind when ANC members salute one another and sing liberation Struggle songs.
It is also this kind of cadre that is incompatible with the party’s current democratic form.
The ANC’s factionalism and ill-discipline must be understood by the all-encompassing nature of cadre ideology the party worships.
For those who live up to its properties, cadre ideology states that every “obstacle” faced, even from within the party, is a sign that the Struggle has not ended, and that cadre activism is needed to overcome any force that jeopardises one’s existence.
But in the ANC of 2021, cadre ideology remains a constant threat to the party’s democratic institutionalism. The tension becomes vivid every time the ANC nears its elective conferences.
What is supposed to be a democratic contestation for ANC presidentship, in which the losing candidate subsequently rallies behind the elected, becomes a full-fledged factional battle after the votes have been tallied up and the winner announced.
Following Ramaphosa’s election, for example, Ace Magashule swore that the ANC would belong to its rightful owners again after Jacob Zuma’s proxy Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma failed to gain power.
Since then, we have witnessed a back-and-forth between the Ramaphosa and Zuma camps as cadres battle in a seemingly never-ending squabble for the rights to govern Luthuli House.
I can only imagine that the forefathers of the ANC are turning in their graves at the sheer ill-discipline of cadres.
Democratically established policies by the National Executive Council (NEC) are unenforceable recommendations without cadre obedience.
Cadre activism informs the recipient of unfavourable ANC decisions to disregard these recommendations and fight against the leadership.
In this context, the ANC’s step-aside policy becomes useless.
The ANC’s policy states that members charged with corruption must step aside from all official positions, pending investigations into their cases.
But cadre defiance has been far more appealing.
In recent times, ANC MP and former state security minister Bongani Bongo was acquitted by controversial Judge John Hlophe, of charges amounting to bribery. He, along with other ANC members including embattled Malusi Gigaba, celebrated the acquittal as a victory and justification that there was a conspiracy against ANC members.
During his trial, Bongo stated that he was not refusing to step aside from his parliamentary work as instructed by his party but instead “wanted to know on what basis he should do so”. As if an ANC NEC decision was not enough.
It was a personal victory for Bongo, but his refusal to step down from his ANC post while facing corruption allegations was in disobedience to the very party that put him in Parliament.
Another example is that of Andile Lungisa who faced assault charges after he smashed a glass jug over DA councillor Rano Kayser in a heated Eastern Cape council meeting.
The ANC councillor stated that he would not resign from his position, following instructions by the party’s provincial committee that he step down as mayoral committee member.
Lungisa said he was “being purged because he waged a war against corruption”.
Throughout his defence, he appropriated Struggle cadre discourses of battle and conspiracy.
Bongo and Lungisa are not the only culprits. The ANC has many cadres who, instead of emulating democratic institutionalism, choose to be defiant “freedom fighters”.
Ultimately, what was central in keeping hopes alive during the Struggle against apartheid has become a nightmare in the ANC’s efforts to be a democratic party. It was a fallacious enterprise by the ANC to construct a democratic party tied to cadre ideology, which is understood as struggle and defiance by its members.
It is an error the ANC cannot shake off until it addresses the cadre question.
* Maposa holds a Master’s degree in international relations at the University of Cape Town. He writes in his own capacity.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL.