The ANC’s disregard of the Turnaround Strategy 2025 document, has been blamed for contributing to the ruling party losing its majority in last month’s historic elections.
The results put South Africa on a new political path for the first time since the end of the apartheid system led by the white minority rule 30 years ago.
This after the ANC signed a deal to form a coalition dubbed the Government of National Unity (GNU) with the white-led and pro-business DA.
The coalition includes smaller parties such as the Inkatha Freedom Party, the Patriotic Alliance, and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC).
Lieutenant General Mojo Motau, a retired SANDF general, former military intelligence chief, and a uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Party member, said the results were not shocking because the ANC had ignored the Turnaround Strategy 2025 document to save the country.
The document was adopted following the ANC Cadre Summit in 2020 and 2021. Motau had led the summit.
According to the document, the ANC faced a crisis of unimaginable intensity and proportion in its history. The cadres agreed that this was a crisis that demanded urgent attention to save the ANC from taking a step into a political precipice, a fatal step that the party could not risk.
“This is a crisis that has become national given the position of the ANC in government. It is therefore a national crisis that is multifaceted requiring multifaceted approaches to contain,” read the document.
It acknowledged that the ANC was suffering a crisis of legitimacy, credibility, political coherency, and morality, and a crisis of the game-rules and leadership.
The document stated that the ANC boasted a tried and tested leadership armed with revolutionary theory throughout the years. But currently, the leadership seemed to lack political consciousness and agility of the political mind.
This leadership pursued personal interests rather than the interests of the people, stated the document.
According to the document: “Leadership is therefore not earned in the struggle but grabbed through other means. It is a leadership that is immobilised and rendered incapable of leading our revolutionary movement to achieve its strategic goal. All is lost including the required agility and political acumen.”
During the ANC Cadre Summit II in 2021, it was recommended that to reposition itself, the ANC should get rid of apartheid agents and compromised leaders.
The cadres said the party was infested with apartheid agents, foreign intelligence, and security agencies, and had consciously and deliberately elected to continue serving “our” erstwhile enemies.
“They occupy positions of leadership and influence in the ANC and society in general. This is one of the greatest challenges we are facing today. Without addressing this challenge the ANC can only proceed to die.”
The summit also suggested that President Cyril Ramaphosa, Gwede Mantashe, Paul Mashatile, Zweli Mkhize, Tito Mboweni, Pravin Gordhan, Blade Nzimande, Derek Hanekom and Trevor Manuel, be recused and expelled from the ANC with immediate effect.
It was believed their presence in the movement served to further divisions under the pretext of ‘renewal’. The document stated that through their conduct, these leaders had proven themselves to be ideologically orientated against the historic mission of the ANC.
Motau said should the ANC continue to disregard fail the document, the party could reach a point of no return in the 2026 local government elections, facing its final demise in the 2019 general elections.
“It is late now but not too late to regroup and change the obvious course to demise. The ANC Turnaround Strategy 2025 is still the most valuable guide in the efforts to save the ANC. ANC cadres must be mobilised to carry out the salvage task.
“Time is of the essence. It should however be stated here that given the damage the National Task Team must also be empowered to direct changes that must be implemented in government. Government must therefore without fail implement the directives of the NTT. We are dealing with a crisis here,” said Motau.
He said this would therefore mean the continuation of the building of an alternative movement to save the country and people with great speed.
On Friday, ANC media liaison officer Bonnie Ramaila promised that the party will respond before the end of business day but did not revert.
manyane.manyane@inl.co.za