A billboard with a picture of President Cyril Ramaphosa in Polokwane in the run-up to the May elections. Photo by Gallo Images
THERE was a time when the ANC was so arrogant that its leaders went around beating their chests, proclaiming the party would rule until Jesus comes back.
This controversial statement was first made by then-president Jacob Zuma in 2008 in Mpumalanga.
When the South African Council of Churches (SACC) raised concerns about the remarks, the ANC mumbled something about the party being founded by religious leaders and during the 2009 elections campaign, Zuma visited places of worship in all nine provinces.
The party said Zuma’s remarks “should be understood in the context of the president’s confidence in the people of South Africa” since they had “voted overwhelmingly for the ANC” in previous four elections.
He repeated the same statement in 2016.
“I hear people complaining when we say the ANC will rule fully until Jesus comes back but we have been blessed. Pastors have prayed for us,” Zuma said at the time.
Fast forward to 2024, and the ANC’s judgement day arrived.
General elections held on 29 May showed the party, which has dominated the polls since the advent of democracy, in flames.
It won 40% of the vote, falling from 57% in 2019. A lot of factors could be attributed to this disgraceful performance, but arrogance is the main contributing factor.
Other revealing examples of the ANC’s perceived superiority include incidents involving its former police minister Bheki Cele and the late minister Pravin Gordhan.
ALSO READ: Gogo Paulina’s miracle tavern!
Cele was recorded in an odd confrontation with Ian Cameron, a community activist from Action Society, a civil rights organisation in the Western Cape.
He challenged the minister, who had a taste for Dobbs hats, on crime facing the local community and failure by police to respond. Cele lost his temper, telling Cameron to “sit down, listen and shut up” before he was forcibly ejected from the venue.
When Gordhan delivered a keynote address on the reform of state-owned enterprises at the Wits Public School of Governance during the university’s centenary celebrations, some attendees heckled him, accusing him of failing to address the poor state of SOEs.
Instead of addressing citizens’ concerns, Gordhan’s office blamed the incident on “unruly behaviour by a small clique” intent on disrupting the event.
How the ANC responded to allegations of State Capture clearly showed their disconnect from the lived reality of many South Africans. Corruption and crime are rampant in the country.
However, instead of dealing with those accused of exploiting the public purse through dodgy deals, the party chose to close ranks. People started losing confidence in the party that had liberated the country.
The Phala Phala scandal involving its current President Cyril Ramaphosa further damaged the ANC’s image.
The ANC became synonymous with corruption. Too many of its leaders were implicated in wrongdoing, and the party seemed reluctant to take any action against them.
This came at a cost. Yes, there were talks of renewal within the ANC before the elections, but words alone were not enough to rescue the party from the grave it dug itself. People were gatvol and expressed themselves through their Xs on the three ballot papers.
For more news and entertainment in the palm of your hand, follow our WhatsApp Channel via this link
0 Comments