Former president Thabo Mbeki burst onto the campaign trail last week, after more than a decade of steering clear.
He urged Sowetans at Jabulani Mall to vote for the ANC and made a commitment that he and the ANC should be held to: to ensure that the party rids itself of the rot which brought the country to its knees. He vowed that the renewal promised by the ANC under President Cyril Ramaphosa would continue.
A few days later, News24’s Carol Paton delivered a devastating blow-by-blow account of the capture and corruption afflicting the National Student Financial Aid Scheme — at the centre of which is higher education minister and SACP chair Blade Nzimande. The plot involved appointing known allies with chequered histories at other state-owned companies to crucial posts where they could begin “fiddling” with tenders.
The ANC’s idea of renewal is an abstract concept for its leaders. In government at various levels, the likes of Nzimande continue to show that it is elusive in practice. The reason for this is that accountability is non-existent and those alleged to be involved in stealing from the public, which in this case had a direct impact on poor students, are kept sheltered in the fold. Meanwhile, Ramaphosa turns a blind eye towards the shenanigans of the activities of his cabinet ministers and wonders why there is a dearth of good coverage of his lacklustre presidency.
In the end, Mbeki may as well have stayed home. His renewal hogwash will remain on the campaign trail — come May 30, with its majority secured, the ANC will be business as usual. Succession race anyone?
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