ANC cadres are killing each other for political positions

Mbhazima Shilowa said that people within the ANC are killing each other for a position as a municipal councillor as the party’s support shrinks.

Shilowa shared his views on the ANC in an eNCA CheckPoint interview titled Mbhazima Shilowa: Why Political Backing Beats Merit.

He is well-positioned to comment on the party, as he was a former ANC stalwart and trade union leader who held numerous political leadership positions.

He was the former general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and served as Gauteng Premier from 1999 to 2008.

He was a close ally of Thabo Mbeki and resigned from office on 29 September 2008 in protest of the ANC’s decision to recall Mbeki from the national presidency.

In October 2008, he resigned from the ANC to co-found the ANC breakaway party COPE with Mosiuoa Lekota.

In the eNCA CheckPoint interview, he said that the ANC has lost touch with the voters, which is why it is losing support.

“Voters express themselves all the time, but I don’t think political parties, and in this instance, the ANC, hear what the people are saying,” Shilowa said.

“If you look at what happened to them in 2016 across all the major metros, and then again five years later, it doesn’t seem like any lessons were learned.”

Although the ANC seems incapable of responding to the dilemma it faces, that does not mean the party does not care.

“I actually think they do care. When you look at the allocation of resources, fewer people make it into the cabinet or achieve financial viability through office,” he said.

He explained that after the ANC transitioned from a liberation movement to a governing party, political office has become a financial vehicle to support lavish lifestyles.

However, because the ANC has lost so much support, fewer party members can occupy political office. This means that internal battles have intensified.

“People are literally killing one another now just for a position as a municipal councillor,” Shilowa said.

“So, they do care in the sense that if only the political pie were growing, there would be less infighting for these positions.”

“However, as the party does worse and worse, competition for those remaining inevitably increases. This will also mean more political killings.”