Business Day Good.jpg Paul Mashatile says ANC must reform or slowly die Sam Mkokeli, Bloomberg, in Business Day, Johannesburg, 12 July 2016 Reform or slowly die. That is the message a senior official of the ANC says the ruling party must heed. "If the ANC does not change, it will see itself gradually out of power," Paul Mashatile, the chairman of the party in Gauteng, said in an interview. "Many of our leaders and members know we have to change." The August 3 local elections have exposed the weaknesses of the party's practices. Five people died in protests sparked by the competition over the nominees in Tshwane. About 10 ANC members have been killed in KwaZulu-Natal amid intense disputes over competition for council posts and control of local resources. While the ANC has won more than 60% of the vote in every election since the first multiracial poll in 1994, the party's succession battles since Nelson Mandela stepped down as president have led to internal strife and splits. Its popularity in urban areas has been dented by a series of scandals that have embroiled President Jacob Zuma, and discontent over the 27% unemployment rate and widespread poverty. "We are already struggling as it is, where everybody says, 'Well, this is no longer the same, it's no longer the ANC of Nelson Mandela,'" said Mashatile. "When there's a lot of noise it does affect the ANC and its support base. These things do take the energy of our members away from where we want that to be." Three recent polls by research company Ipsos on behalf of broadcaster eNCA show that the DA is ahead of the ANC in both Pretoria and Johannesburg, but will fall short of winning a majority. The ANC believed it had 50% support or more in many municipalities, Mashatile said. Mashatile is part of a younger, urban generation of leaders who are calling for more modern practices, coming up against conservatives who are comfortable with the party's traditional ways of operating. "My view is that the ANC must bring its electoral processes from the 'underground'," said Mashatile. Vote buying Past elections have been tainted by allegations of vote buying and gerrymandering. The US style of primaries and public debates were the kind of model the ANC should consider, he said. "I like the American style; it's very transparent," he said. "If you want Donald Trump, you know what you are looking for." The ANC will hold its five-yearly conference in December 2017, when a new leadership will be elected and the party's policies reviewed by about 4,000 delegates from the nation's nine provinces, and three leagues that represent youth, women and members of the former military wing. "We have to ensure there is huge renewal of the ANC come 2017," he said. "Otherwise we will not survive." Zuma's replacement There have been calls from ANC members for the replacement of Zuma as party president when his second term expires next year. He won control of the ANC from Thabo Mbeki in December 2007 and was sworn in as president in May 2009, just weeks after prosecutors dropped charges against him of taking bribes from arms dealers. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will probably come up against Zuma's ex-wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is now chairwoman of the African Union Commission. "There's no fait accompli, the contest is open," Mashatile said. "We must discuss all candidates openly when the time comes." Bloomberg From: <http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/politics/2016/07/12/paul-mashatile-says-an c-must-reform-or-slowly-die> http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/politics/2016/07/12/paul-mashatile-says-anc -must-reform-or-slowly-die __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 13790 (20160712) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com -- -- 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 received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/yclsa-eom-forum/004001d1dc48%240e122040%242a3660c0%24%40com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
