Malema belong(ed) to the ANC
I have gone thru comrade Lazola’s input and could not help to draw a conclusion that comrade author is attempting to do two core things: 1. attempts to dissociate the embattled youth leader (Mr Malema) with the ideological scope or framework of the ANC, and 2. attempts to predict his ideological home through finding few peripheral links with Pan Africanism. All and all the attempt is to justify why his participation as an ANC member may be short-lived. The fundamental limitation with cde Lazola’s input is that the same issues that he raises as determining that Mr Malema’s ideological standing ought to be characterized as Pan Africanist can be said to several other leaders in the ANC currently. This can go to an extent to saying the delegation of ANCYL in previous conference which has been agreeing on the very policy views which are now said to be Pan Africanist, was a Pan Africanist delegation. Here I do not even want to invoke a debate the dynamics and interplay of personal ideology and organizational standpoints. I completely disagree with the characterization of Julius as Pan Africanist on basis of few tangential pronouncements. The avenue which I saw as better explaining the whole fiasco around the Jujumania (conceptually and ideological), is the whole issue of the New Tendency whose key tactic to use of strident nationalist (and sometimes Africanist) rhetoric to justify a patronage politics that hopes to use money to gain position and position to gain more money. That ought to be our point of departure in attempting to deal with the New Tendency as embodiment of unscrupulous petty bourgeois tendency engulfing our liberation politics rather than as object or person. The core issue is not Malema per se but the unscrupulous culture that is spreading, which can be replicated in any youth leader in the ANC. In cautioning against dangers of rhetoric by opportunists, Vladimir Lenin writes *‘there are, however, moments, when a question must be raised sharply and things given their names, the danger being that otherwise irreparable harm may be done to the party and the revolution’. * On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 9:00 AM, Juma Ali <[email protected]> wrote: > Great article Cde. Lazola. > > My main problem though is whether Malema's problems in the ANC are due to > his perceived Pan-African radicalism or due merely to political expediency. > For sure, one of the charges that remained was that of bringing the ANC to > disrepute with his comments about the regime in Botswana which were seen to > be at odds with ANC policies, but the merits of ascribing ideological > differences to his disciplinary process are debatable against those of mere > political expediency. > > Juma. > > *From:* Lazola Ndamase <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected]; yclsa-eom-forum < > [email protected]> > *Sent:* Tuesday, March 6, 2012 11:01 AM > *Subject:* [YCLSA Discussion] Does Malema belong to the ANC and the > Congress Movement? > > Does Malema belong to the ANC? > > The ANC is not ideologically pure. It would be dishonest to suggest so. > Any way as a multi-class organization it is bound never to be. Any national > liberation movement worth its salt has a responsibility to attract the > broadest sections of the oppressed in order to succeed in its struggle. In > order to ensure unity within its ranks whilst maintaining its broad appeal, > it has a responsibility to set out an all inclusive, less stringent > ideological perspective whilst at the same time allowing enough space for > various ideological standpoints to contest for hegemony within. > > However, although tolerant to divergent ideological standpoints within its > ranks it has a responsibility to draw the line, or set broad parameters > about its ideological standing. That’s exactly what the ANC did in relation > to African chauvinism, or what in a more sophisticated sense is termed > Pan-Africanism. This does not mean our movement believes Pan-Africanists > are counter-revolutionary, it just believes that they are not as > progressive as it would prefer. > > Contrary to the ANC, comrade Malema is not a progressive nationalist, > something to which the ANC has evolved to base its Africanism; in contrast > he is a Pan-Africanist. The primacy of his ideas is Pan-Africanist rather > than Progressive Nationalist. His ideas resonate well with those of other > Pan-Africanist youth organizations in the continent which have openly > declared support for him such as Zanu-PF and the liberation movement of > Tanzania Chama cha Mapinduzi. This is in contrast to the silent treatment > he has received from our traditional allies such as Frelimo of Mozambique > and the MPLA of Angola. > > In him, Pan-Africanists in the continent saw themselves. His > Pan-Africanism is also the reason why the term “African Child” has found > new popularity since he became President of the ANCYL. Before him, by the > way, this term did not belong to the vocabulary of the Congress Movement > but to that of the Pan-Africanists such as the PAC, AZAPO and other similar > movements. > > Another term barely used in the movement popularized by Malema is the word > “settler”, a word Julius brought us from the Pan-Africanist dictionary. The > Congress Movement barely used this term, even in our songs, or chants. The > closest an ANC member got to this would be through the use of the word > Boer. Note, even the most controversial chant done in the movement “kill > the Boer: the farmer”, still does not contain the word “settler”. “One > settler, one bullet” was not a slogan of the ANC but that of the PAC, and > our cadres were not cultured to speak in this way, hence we could not chant > in this way. > > The fact that he is Pan-Africanist, does not suggest that comrade Malema’s > ideas are not left leaning, or less radical, in actual fact, he is a bloody > radical one. His Pan-Africanism, is what I believe drives his radicalism, > despite the fact that his location in class society should have driven him > otherwise. It is not in spite of his Pan-Africanism but because of it that > he is so radical. Although stinking rich, he being an “African Child” > cannot bear to see the impoverishment of another “African Child” > particularly while he, the rich one, is surrounded by “white settlers” in > rich society. This is completely painful for the “African child”. The fact > that comrade Malema, was born from an African working class family > strengthens this point of view, particularly his idea that the enemy is not > the capitalist per se, which he himself is, but the “white capitalist”. > > His infatuation with “white" monopoly capital does not stem only from the > ANC’s characterization of monopoly capital as a threat to development but > arises from his own realization that it is the face of white opulence. The > fact that monopoly capital to him, has a color is one other interesting > fact. Of course, I am not denying that Monopoly capital is largely white, > but the fact that in Malema’s eyes it seems not all Monopoly Capital is an > enemy of the revolution but only assumes that role because its white. Even > on the question of conspicuous consumption. Comrade Malema often retorts > whether it should only be white youth that should dress in a particular way > or not? He makes this point at every turn: even lamenting that rich “white” > boys drive expensive cars in Sandton and nobody complains. > > By the way, Pan-Africanism is not just radical but also uncompromising. > Comrade Malema is cut from the same cloth. My view though is that, its > South African version is unscientific. It will never be able to resolve the > race question in South Africa but would exacerbate it. Of course, when the > struggle for liberation is still in its infancy, Pan-Africanism or Black > Consciousness is necessary to uplift the self-worth of the oppressed and > rouse them to stand up against their oppression. But it usually can go no > further. > > Comrade Julius Malema should not have joined the ANC in the first place. > He does not belong there and he does not share its ideas. Of course, for > numerical purposes we must be thankful that he chose to join the ANC rather > than the PAC or AZAPO. He must be more thankful that his Pan-Africanist > tendencies were not discovered early on before he could rise up the > organizational ladder. For this, he must thank our now pathetic recruitment > system which holds that anyone with a membership form and fee is almost a > member. > > Surely, I am not suggesting that our movement should not have looked to > the Africanists to recruit. Anyway, the brightest in the liberation > movement are often located in these organizations, but it is an indictment > on our movement that it has not been able to win comrade Julius Malema over > to its viewpoint since it recruited him at the age of 9 as he would have us > believe. When an organization arrives at this realization it has no choice > but to let go of its recruitee, but this has to be a political function > rather than a Disciplinary one. -- > You are subscribed. This footer can help you. > Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to > this message. > You can visit the group WEB SITE at > http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery > options, pages, files and membership. > To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected]. > You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to > put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail > to this address (repeat): [email protected] . > > > -- > You are subscribed. This footer can help you. > Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to > this message. > You can visit the group WEB SITE at > http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery > options, pages, files and membership. > To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected]. > You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to > put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail > to this address (repeat): [email protected] . > -- "It is our aspiration and our aim that everyone should become socially conscious and effective; but to achieve this end, it is necessary to provide all with the means of life and for development". -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
