“Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going
to be a bumpy ride.”
That was the message from
political commentator Justice
Malala when he addressed a
business breakfast on the state
of the nation hosted by Deloitte
in Johannesburg recently.
“The ANC is more divided
than it has ever been in its 104-
year history,” he said.
“For 22 years it has been
at the heart and centre of our
political lives. When the ANC is
in pain all of us will feel it.
“The two factions – those
rallying around Zuma and
those rallying around Cyril
Ramaphosa and Pravin
Gordhan – are so deeply
divided that we will see state
institutions like the Hawks and
NPA being used in this battle
inside this ANC.”
And this is what is driving
the turbulence which Malala
expects to
continue
until next
December
when
the party
conference
is scheduled.
“We will
see another
Nenegate
and some
other
traumatic
events
because this battle is not done.”
But the good thing is that
we haven’t wasted a crisis and
several positives have emerged
from the turbulence.
Chief among these is the
CEO initiative which has seen
a group of CEOs
representing
the biggest
businesses in
the country
creating a new
R1.5-billion small
and medium
enterprise (SME)
fund to help
drive economic
growth.
The fund was
established to
address the lack
of equity funding for start-ups
and has the support of nearly
three quarters of the JSE’s top
40 companies and other listed
and non-listed private sector
businesses.
“For the first time business,
labour and government have
pulled together,” said Malala.
The question now is whether
intentions are turned into
action.
“In the 22 years of our
democracy we have spoken
about collaboration between
these three entities,” he said.
This is the first sign of progress
in this direction.
Also not to be taken for
granted is the fact that strong
independent institutions
have stood up to all kinds of
pressure. “The ‘Pay back the
money’ campaign showed
that no one is above the law
and the August 3 elections
were free and fair. Some
introspection is however
necessary from the Hawks
and the NPA.”
That said, what has been
dubbed the “poisoned climate
of factional contestation”
poses the biggest risk for
the future – and if there
is no solution to the ANC
divisions, the organisation
could implode and split. “And
that would be a problem –
which ANC would remain in
power and which ANC would
walk away?
“Both factions would want
to stay in the ANC because
without the brand there is
nothing to take home.”
INSERT & CAPTION: We will see another
Nenegate and some
other traumatic
events because this
battle is not done.
– Justice Malala
