National 14.11.2016 06:59 am
Ngwako Modjadji
ANC president Jacob Zuma leads party officials and the gathered crowd in song following his address at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, 16 April 2016, during the launch of the organisation's local government elections manifesto. Picture: Refilwe Modise
Opinion polls suggest President Zuma has a national approval rating in the lower 20% - far lower than that of the ANC itself, says the party's ally.
The decision by the ANC to use President Jacob Zuma as the face of its local government elections campaign cost the ruling party many votes.
This is the frank admission the SA Communist Party (SACP) made in its organisational report. The document was presented at its central committee meeting in August.
The SACP, the ANC's leftist ally, has encouraged its members to submit responses as part of the ongoing debate ahead of the party's national congress in July, where positions raised in the document will be finalised.
"Opinion polls suggest President Zuma has a national approval rating in the lower 20% - far lower than that of the ANC itself," the document says.
"Where else in the world would a political party contesting in competitive elections choose to build its campaign around a deeply flawed personality cult?" asks the document.
The document is the latest indication that all is not well within the tripartite alliance, made up of the ANC, SACP and trade union federation Cosatu.
The SACP traced the escalation of the alliance's crisis to the period following the ANC's 2007 watershed national conference in Polokwane.
This was after Zuma was elected party president.
"Not since 2007 have we seen such visible signs of division among the national leadership and the wilful bypassing of ANC and Cabinet-mandated positions on matters such as the South African Broadcasting Corporation, South African Airways, digital migration, nuclear energy, or the [Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi] Zwane task team on the banks," says the document.
"There is a climate of extreme recklessness in parts of the ANC and parts of government and across many parastatals. While successive ANC conferences and alliance summits have recognised many of these features - corruption and factionalism - in practice, the ANC national, provincial and regional leaderships have shown little collective willingness or capacity to deal with the issues."
The SACP, which has fallen out with Zuma, argues that the elections emphasised a worrying trajectory decline in popular support for the ANC, which performed dismally in the local government elections this year.
The ANC lost control of three major metros - Tshwane, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.
"While at 54% the ANC still remains the electoral choice of the majority of South Africans, the gradual decline in support over several past elections and now the precipitous decline across most provinces and in urban as well as rural areas is a sobering indication," the document notes.
The SACP says, if not stemmed, the trend will continue
http://citizen.co.za/news/news-national/1344144/deeply-flawed-zuma-cult-cost-anc-many-votes-sacp/