2005-12-05,+ANC+on+voyage+of+discovery,+Sunday+Times

= **ANC on voyage of discovery** =


 * XOLANI XUNDU**


 * Sunday Times, Johannesburg, 04 December 2005**

THE challenges facing the ANC are about defining the kind of society South Africa should become, National Executive Committee (NEC) member and businessman Saki Macozoma said this week.

Macozoma dismissed suggestions that the ANC was facing a crisis over the axing of former Deputy President Jacob Zuma and that it was divided.

“There is no crisis in the ANC. There are significant challenges going into the future. Those challenges have to do ultimately with what kind of society we want to become,” he said.

Macozoma is at the centre of a political storm over “bogus e-mails” that planned the destruction of the political careers of Zuma and ANC Secretary-General Kgalema Motlanthe.

His surveillance by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has led to the suspension of its top three officials.

Macozoma said the debate in the ANC was ideological: some felt South Africa should be a socialist society, others wanted rapid capitalism and still others felt it should be a combination of these extremes. But what was important was the impact of policy on the lives of the people, in the shortest possible time and on a sustainable basis, he said.

“Those are the issues that the ANC is debating and actually tabling in the public domain, without all the other emotional nonsense.”

While it was true that there were opposing views on the Zuma saga, they did not translate into divisions in the ANC or its NEC, he said.

“You see for me, something that would define division would be the point where the NEC is unable to carry out its functions because it is paralysed by divergent agendas. [But] there is no such a thing. We differ on certain issues and how to handle those issues.”

Until now, the party had been held together by the Freedom Charter, the fight against apartheid, common heritage and shared experiences in jail, exile and various sites of struggle. These ties had allowed the glossing over of differences.

However, as time went by, the challenges were becoming different and so were personalities. Ultimately, the ANC that would emerge would be a party that would have built “a new consensus” around these issues.

“I hope it will be an ANC that contains all of the elements that it has at present and which allows for creative tension in the balancing of forces — where I will not wake up in the morning wanting to decimate those who disagree with my point of view. I think the fact that they are there to disagree is as important as my ability to raise my own issues.”

In an apparent swipe at the SACP and Cosatu, he said the ANC would have to learn to distance political outcomes from individuals, meaning powerful individuals would not be used to champion ideas. Ideas had to be able to stand on their own merits.

“The reason people tend to play the man instead of the ball is because they think that if there is this powerful personality around whom these ideas are built, then automatically they become a prevailing idea. It is not like that. Ideas need to have an internal, consistent logic and an appeal to the greatest number of people, and must be effective and produce results.

“Then you will not run out of people to champion them.”

The ANC would emerge out of this period understanding that defending an individual, irrespective of what happened to him or her, because “this is my Jesus Christ”, was not the way forward, Macozoma said.

This was in reference to the SACP’s and Cosatu’s adoption of Zuma and his woes, and portraying his fall from grace as an attack on the working class and the poor.

Macozoma sees the resultant debate as part of the growth of the ANC.

“You cannot avoid growth. Obviously there are things we could have avoided in terms of specific issues and incidents. [But] the fact of the matter is that if the ANC is in a static mode and not growing, it will die.

“So I think it is natural. Organisations, like businesses, go through these kinds of challenges and crises. That is part of a living organisation.

“Certainly, if you asked me whether I would have chosen this particular path, the answer is no. But I accept it as part of growing up,” said Macozoma.

He dismissed as a red herring the fears of alliance partners that business was exerting too much influence on the policy direction of the ANC.

“I was not elected on that basis. I don’t represent business. I represent the ideals of our people as I understand them. If someone says the way you earn a living influences how you think, that’s probably true. But whether that becomes the overwhelming influence on the ANC, I think it’s nonsense.”

There was “unfortunately” a business lobby in the ANC because business was an integral part of the life of a country. Like labour and others, it was an important constituency. “This notion that business has no right to participate in the life of a country is a mystery.”

Of course, there would always be an issue of balance between various interest groups in society, but he did not think South Africa had reached a stage where people could say there was no balance.

Macozoma said South Africans should not believe society was led only by politicians. Every citizen had a right to ask what kind of society he or she wanted and to do everything, in his or her small way, to achieve that ideal society.

“Society is led by a variety of people, whether you are in business, a traditional leader, a church leader, or just an ordinary citizen, the question should be what kind of society you want.

“It would be a pity to remove that responsibility from people of determining the future of the country.

“In another analysis, when political parties go astray, as they will do from time to time, as citizens we should pull them back in line.”

From: http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/articles/article.aspx?ID=ST6A156184