South Africa must get rid of the ANC at all levels to fix the country – Prince Mashele

Political analyst and commentator Prince Mashele said that the African National Congress (ANC), which he claims has criminalised South African society, cannot be a part of the solution to fix it.

Speaking on SMWX, Mashele said that “the ANC has broken South Africa. It has criminalised every level of our society.”

“To fix it, we must be clear in our minds. The political party that has criminalised our society cannot be a part of the solution. We must completely remove it from power.”

“If elements of it remain in the political system, we will not fix this country,” he added.

Efficient Group chief economist Dawie Roodt made similar comments in an interview with Ernst van Zyl, arguing that the ANC does not know what makes a modern economy work or what policies are needed to expand it.

He added that to fix the South African economy, the country would need to get rid of the ANC, as it still believes in outdated communist ideologies.

Furthermore, Roodt said that another problem with the ANC’s governance is cadre deployment.

“Another word for the ANC’s cadre deployment policy is incompetence. That means you get incompetent people appointed in certain positions,” he said.

In a more recent interview with EWN, Mashele said that there are two types of people that “have realised that the ANC is an instrument and source of enrichment.

He argues the first category are those who are incompetent. Ïf you are incompetent, the quickest way to find a job in municipality or government is to join the ANC, attend a few meetings with comrades, and you’ll get a job.

He says the second category consists of criminals, who have realised that if they want to “make big money in the state,” they need to bribe an ANC politician, which will allow them to take over the state and run it.

Newsday has reached out to the ANC for a response, but did not receive a reply by publication. Comment will be added if received.

Current formations not sufficient to replace the ANC

However, Mashele does not believe that any of the current political formations in South Africa will be sufficient to replace the ANC.

“I’m thinking of a future where educated, ethical South Africans, professionals outside of politics, realise that if they don’t enter the political arena, their children will have no future,” he said.

“I have travelled the country and attended meetings in the private sector. South Africa has talent; we have loads and loads of talent.”

“We must change the fact that talented South Africans view Parliament as the arena of scoundrels. Our intellectual elite must feel an obligation to rescue the future of their children,” he added.

Mashele provided the example of Botswana’s president, Duma Boko, who was a practising lawyer before he went into politics.

“He was young, making money, and working as a lawyer. At some point, he realised that his country had been reduced to a circus because the old president is fighting the current one,” he said.

“When Duma said he was going to stand for president, people laughed at him and told him that he wouldn’t make it. Look at him now.”

After obtaining a master’s degree in law from Harvard Law School in 1993, Boko returned to his home country to lecture in the field at the University of Botswana while running a law firm.

It was only in 2010 that he entered politics after becoming the leader of the Botswana National Front, which later merged to form the Umbrella for Democratic Change.

In 2024, after serving as the leader of the official opposition for a decade, Boko’s party won a majority of seats in the National Assembly, and he was elected president.

Boko has recenty announced a number of initiatives in an attemot to diversify the country’s economy which has been reliant on the diamond trade, currently being threatend by lab-grown jewels.

One of these has been setting up a sovereign wealth fund to exist alonside the central bank, which will be rignfenced and development focused.

Another is citizenship-by-investment to “secure the long-term financial future” of the country by granting citezenship to those who invest above a certain threshold.