Motlanthe: ANC needs introspection
2012-01-27 21:43
Johannesburg - The ANC needs to review its internal processes and avoid self-adulation and greed to reach its goals of transforming society, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said on Friday.
"By opening up its mind and introspecting this way, the ANC will also afford itself an opportunity to know how others in turn view its progress and prospects towards the future," said Motlanthe, who is also the deputy president of the ANC.
In a speech prepared for delivery to mark the centenary of the ANC, he said in Pretoria that freedom for South Africa was not the ANC's victory alone.
It was achieved with the support and cross-pollination of ideas of progressive forces locally and internationally with diversity helping the party grow.
But so far only oppression and apartheid had been overcome in South Africa, with mud schools, poor healthcare, and 2.8 million unemployed youth showing the "ugly side" of the nation.
The success of the next 100 years for the party would rest on its ability to raise a new generation with equal access to opportunities and resources - something that was hard to quantify and made the party's job harder.
Democracy had for centuries been the best protection for capitalism, but developments in the Eurozone have dispensed with some of its key elements, he said.
Governments were changed without an election in Greece and Italy.
The global implications of these developments left the ANC working in a system with limitations that could not be under-estimated.
The social system, which defined the current era, put individualism and greed above all else and ANC cadres should be careful about being sucked into this.
Motlanthe said revelling in self-adulation due to a rich history did not mean much unless lessons could be used to respond to problems and challenges.
The party had learned that there had been moments when it had to pause to consider its approach to new or different circumstances.
Not being able to do this would drive the party to the wall.
The party needed to re-examine issues of organisational systems and processes to strengthen existing internal democracy and leadership systems, he said.
"Such a move will require us to also relook at conditions of transparency in our internal business, including governance, democratic rights of members, improving the quality and nature of our congresses and electoral systems, as well as safeguarding the system of democratic decision making."
The ANC should renew itself and prevent the "sins of incumbency" that had plagued other post-colonial movements, Motlanthe said.
- SAPA