ANC has to confront moral decay within party

AS THE Madlanga Commission proceedings unfold, the ANC faces its most defining moments since the 1969 Morogoro Consultative Conference, a test of conscience, survival, and renewal.

- ZAMIKHAYA MASETI

The Movement once redefined its moral compass in exile; today it must confront the erosion of that very moral foundation within its own house. The unfolding events around the Madlanga Commission echo that earlier moment of reckoning, demanding honesty, courage, and self-correction.

The recent raid on the Rustenburg property of controversial businessman Brown Mogotsi has opened another troubling chapter in the intersection between politics, money, and morality within our liberation movement.

What appeared to be a poorly coordinated police operation has now evolved into a potentially explosive political scandal. In his interview with Xoli Mngambi on Newzroom Afrika, Mogotsi issued a chilling warns “abanye bazo khala,’ which simply means some will cry tears.

He was certainly making indirect reference to some ANC leaders with business ties to him and fellow criminal syndicates. His mention of Vusumuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala’s R100 000 contribution to the ANC January 8th Dinner is deeply unsettling.

The suggestion that money derived from criminal activities may have entered the coffers of the ANC’s premier anniversary celebration is not only scandalous, it strikes at the ethical heart of the movement.

Herein lies the existential crisis facing the ANC, the blurring of lines between legitimate political fundraising and the contamination of its historic institutions by illicit money. The January 8 commemoration, once a moment of unity and renewal, now risks being remembered as the event that exposed the moral bankruptcy of the organisation.

If the revelations before the Madlanga Commission confirm Mogotsi’s claims, the ANC will have to confront not only the sources of its funding but also the corrosion of its revolutionary ethos.