ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula has vowed to crack the whip as head of the party’s headquarters and accounting officer.
If they act according to their words, the mediocrity that has characterized the ruling party since Polokwane will end.
Lawlessness since 2007
Violation of the law began with discipline which has become a new and worrying phenomenon since Polokwane in 2007, when members acted with impunity.
The cadre ship that was elected with Jacob Zuma at that time changed the course of ANC history by creating a new culture of the movement.
Since Polokwane, top leaders have been booed when they speak on public platforms. The heckling of President Cyril Ramaphosa during his opening speech at Nasrec last month has come to an end.
Often ordinary members will publish statements on social media to destroy leaders they don’t like. Often, they hide behind the anonymity of a fake name while lying.
Mbalula must act
I just hope Mbalula means business when he says those who are not disciplined will be punished. He promised to start with members who voted with the opposition against the ANC’s position in parliament and municipal councils.
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Older members may be affected
But Mbalula’s advice that all people who sleep on the job will be punished is worried that innocent members may violate the process, as some suffer from chronic diseases that require them to rest or take medication.
Many MPs are over 50 and clearly suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure, while old age itself makes them sleepy after a day at work.
People should not be punished for wrongdoings they cannot control, such as sleeping on the job.
Defiance
However, the whip should be used against those who defy the party line for factional reasons.
The problem is not about sleeping on the job but acting contrary to the collective decisions that still make decisions in democratic centralism.
Those who say the ANC should not take action against cabinet ministers who defy the party are underestimating the impact of imposing discipline on an organisation.
One disagrees with the view that disciplining members or removing ministers will divide the party instead of renewing it.
In fact using the ANC’s disciplinary code against misconduct will instill renewal in the party and will help restore voters’ confidence in the party.
There is nothing wrong with applying discipline but there is something wrong with applying it selectively, or not at all.
Those who have given up on the ANC’s ability to rehabilitate will be happy to see them do something to restore their lost dignity. A party with undisciplined and bickering members will lose not only members, but voters.
Membership has declined
ANC membership has dropped from over a million to around 600 000 in the past few years. The vote count is about 10 million voters – meaning that the party is supported by nonmembers.
If these figures are anything to go by, if the ANC loses power in the coming elections, they will never regain it, but will live in the manipulative politics of a coalition government for life.
Until the ANC realizes that the application of disciplinary action will help the party gain more and new members from among voters and former voters, it should forget about renewal. Members have been expelled in the past, even after 1994, but the ANC has not disintegrated, it has grown stronger.