JACOB Zuma, South Africa’s president, pledged on Sunday that the ruling African National Congress would take urgent steps to restore the party’s core values and stamp out factionalism as the liberation movement celebrated its 100th anniversary.
In a lengthy speech to mark the ANC’s milestone, Mr Zuma talked in detail about the long and rich history of Africa’s oldest party, which led the battle against apartheid and produced leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo.
But he also touched on the challenges the movement, which has governed South Africa and overseen the dramatic transition from apartheid since the first democratic election in 1994, faces.
In spite of the strides taken in the 18 years since Mandela became the country’s first black president, high unemployment, particularly among young black South Africans, and widespread poverty, continue to blight the country.
The ANC has also been plagued by internal battles amid concerns about rising corruption, patronage and cronyism in the movement, with analysts and party officials warning that it faces a crisis and needs to return to its core values.
“We must ask and answer the difficult questions about the future of our country,” Zuma said at a colourful ceremony in a sports stadium in Bloemfontein.
“We are determined to move to the second centenary with a more rejuvenated organisation that is strategically positioned to continue to lead the people of our country.”
He promised that the ANC and “all organs of state shall pay single-minded and undivided attention in order to overcome the triple challenges” of inequality, poverty and unemployment.
But the difficulties Zuma and his party face were apparent when a small section of the crowd had to be rebuked by a senior ANC official for chanting calls for change – an illustration that some in the movement are pushing for a leadership challenge against the president.
Speculation has been rife that Zuma, who has been criticised for indecisive leadership, could be challenged when the ANC holds a five yearly conference in December at which it elects its top leaders.
There were also loud cheers for Julius Malema, the militant leader of the ANC’s youth league, who is seen as the public face of those plotting against Zuma.
Malema was suspended from the ANC for five years in November by a party disciplinary hearing after a series of controversial outbursts and he is also the subject of separate investigations into his finances.
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But the party suspension will only come into effect once an appeals process is completed. The populist politician, who has led calls for the nationalisation of mines and expropriation of white-owned land, still retains support within sections of the party, particularly among youth members.
The power struggles within the ANC have threatened to cast a cloud over the three days of celebrations, which included a golf tournament, the ceremonial slaughter of a cow and the lighting of a centenary flame that will traverse the country.
The anniversary also comes at the start of a year that will be critical for the party as it holds a policy conference in June followed by the elective conference in December.
Zuma said the party would work to professionalise and modernise its operations and accelerate transformation in a country burdened with one of the most inequitable societies.
“We will take urgent and practical steps to restore the core values, stamp out factionalism and promote political discipline,” Mr Zuma said. “We will take urgent and practical steps to once again place the ANC at the forefront of the progressive forces for change.”
