Problem is not the ANC, but the leaders', says veteran

"You either renew or you die." This was the message yesterday from ANC veteran Reverend Frank Chikane - marking 113 years of the country's oldest liberation movement, which has governed for three decades since the fall of apartheid.

- Brian Sokutu

In an interview with The Citizen before the January 8 Statement of the ANC national executive committee, to be delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday in Cape Town, Chikane, who is part of the ANC Veterans' League, firmly placed his hopes of the party regaining lost ground on the renewal programme.

"ANC renewal," he said, "was rooted in service delivery, deployment of capable cadres and zero tolerance for corruption."

Since taking over power from the National Party (NP) in 1994, the ANC suffered a blow in last year's national polls, garnering 40.1% of the votes - forcing it to form a government of national unity with the DA and other smaller parties.

Chikane, one of the activists who endured the wrath of NP state-repression, including an attempt on his life, said: "The problem is not the ANC, but the leaders.