Factional battles in ANC fuel security chaos and foreign policy drift: Kenneth Mokgatlhe

Key topics:

• ANC factions destabilise state institutions for personal gain

• Corruption weakens SANDF, police, and South Africa's global standing

• Ethical political leadership needed to restore public trust and order

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By Kenneth Mokgatlhe*

It is impossible for anyone who is following South Africa’s political landscape to ignore the visible factional battles within the state apparatus, from a mere local municipality to the most sensitive state security unit, such as the military. We all laughed when the Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, gave us a warning about a coup. It was not convincing coming from her because very few people trust what the ANC is doing or saying these days. The recent controversial visit of the SANDF official to Iran has exposed the growing tensions within the state security apparatus. 

It is not a completely new phenomenon to witness the factional battles playing out in the state apparatus; we saw it emerging during Thabo Mbeki’s administration, especially in the security agencies of this country. It became much clearer when Jacob Zuma came into it as he went further to frustrate the entire justice and security fraternity from when he won the ANC’s Polokwane Conference by doing away with the once-reputable Scorpion, which was known for its no-nonsense approach. It was dismantled and brought the toothless Hawks, which can’t be matched to the Scorpion. 

The political and administrative chaos within the Ditsobotla Local Municipality in the North West is not the doing of the councillors of that incompetent municipality; it is the senior leaders of the ANC who are interfering with the running of the state institutions for purposes of greed and selfishness. These factions within the ANC are not inspired or espoused by ideological or political conviction; it is primarily the looting of public funds for self-enrichment. 

We have demoralised personnel in the state apparatus who are vulnerable to being recruited into forcefully removing the government of the day. 

Five months ago, we had a top general complaining about our corrupt politicians, “Politicians have turned the SANDF into a Mickey Mouse force,” said SANDF Lieutenant General Ntshavheni Maphaha. There have been some allegations that soldiers ran out of bullets while in a peace mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), it is not so difficult to believe it, given the ANC’s rampant corruption over the years. Surely we cannot expect the security agencies of this country to sit down and watch while their country is being dragged into the mud by unpatriotic, selfish individuals who would do anything to fill their stomachs and pockets.

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The recent revelations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, were nothing new, rather confirmation from a top cop about what the people raise in the media daily. The factions within the ANC are taking place in all state institutions as every faction wants to have a financial and political advantage over the other as the ANC’s elective conference is fast approaching. 

This visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran was wrong as it further heightened the political tensions between Pretoria and Washington. This took place as Minister Parks Tau and his team were trying to negotiate a new deal for Washington to review their tariffs on South Africa. We have seen since 2017 that Cyril Ramaphosa has not had a clear foreign policy direction. The country is losing its international reputation in front of its watch. Jacob Zuma, Thabo Mbeki, and Nelson Mandela had a clear foreign policy that was understood by ordinary South Africans. 

One of the most popular Civil Rights leaders in American history, Malcolm X, warned us that a man who stands for nothing falls for anything. If you do not have your agenda, then you will become somebody else’s agenda. Cyril Ramaphosa and the current government do not have a set of goals to achieve besides stealing from the public; that is their priority. 

The only eternal and efficient solution to the crisis that we are facing is to replace the current political culture with a viable and ethical political culture and values similar to those of China or the Communist Party of China, which is intolerant of corruption. To do that, we need our people to vote the ANC out and vote for ethically grounded leadership which will restore the dignity, especially of black people who are living in squalor. 

*Kenneth Mokgatlhe is a political analyst and consultant.