African National Congress (ANC) stalwart Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi says if the party fails to renew itself it will perish. She was delivering the Joe Gqabi memorial lecture, where she spoke about the decline in the quality of membership in the party.
Exactly 40 years ago, on this day, 31st July 1981 the apartheid regime assassinated one of the outstanding revolutionaries, Cde Joe Ndzingo Gqabi. As the Harry Gwala Foundation we felt this day can’t pass unnoticed. pic.twitter.com/IuSUFPqOyH
— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) July 31, 2021
Four years since the watershed ANC 2017 Nasrec Conference, the party is still struggling with unity and cohesion.
Fraser-Moleketi says factions are ravaging the party.
“What is clear is that if the ANC does not carry out this process of renewal, it will perish. What is also clear is that the ANC can only talk about unity is after the process of renewal free from the destruction of factions.”
Fraser-Moleketi also says the Diagnostic Report of former ANC secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, is spot on in the characterisation of the declining quality of membership.
“The use of money to buy votes for elections in the party is at the heart of the decline of the quality of membership. Money has replaced consciousness. The ethical behaviour of leaders has been replaced by status, ethics is seen as an elitist approach in politics.”
Fraser-Moleketi also laments the role of young people in the party since the disbandment of the ANC Youth League and the expulsion of Julius Malema.
“One of the questions we may ask today is who is reaching out to the youth? Who is providing leadership to the youth and their inter-generation role. Are you the Joe Gqabi’s of today?”
The ANC stalwart says the apartheid special operatives are still hard at work and have infiltrated the party which has seen the destruction of SOEs and the criminal justice system.
“That damage has included the weakening of the institutions of the state, the criminal justice, the SOE’s, the alienation of the democratic state to the rest of Africa and the weakening of the alliance as a whole.”
The ANC has vigorously embarked on its renewal process by suspending leaders who are charged with serious crimes, including its secretary-general, Ace Magashule.
In the video below, Fraser-Moleketi says the ANC will perish if it fails to renew itself:
