Before democracy, African National Congress (ANC) comrades in exile used loyalty to the party as the main currency in their political struggle. They were scattered all over the world but somehow, managed to carry out their lifelong struggle, which was freedom from the cruel apartheid system. Loyalty to the party was a phenomenon that was closely monitored because the apartheid government constantly poached ANC comrades. This was done to advance their cause which was to ultimately destroy the ANC. That is how the term“ASKARI” was birthed and further gained traction within the ANC military and political operations.
The loyalty to the party was based on the objectives that the party shared with the citizens of the country, thus betrayal to the ANC was equated to betrayal to the country. Being identified as an ASKARI in the ANC was considered an unforgivable crime. Joe Mamasela is arguably one of the well-known ASKARIs. He was part of the Vlakplaas death squad which was led by Colonel Eugene de Kock. Mamasela then confessed to having been part of the abduction and murder of Port Elizabeth activists who were commonly known as “Pebco Three” and the youth activists known as the “Mamelodi Ten”.
We are now 26 years into the not so new democratic dispensation and the ASKARIs have taken a different form. There is an infiltration of the “so-called” ANC comrades who do not care about the objectives that the ANC shares with the people of South-Africa.
Recently, the country has been agonizing about the corruption committed by ANC members in the different spheres of government. This has caused citizens to strongly rebuke the ANC and all its corrupt members. The culprits who are responsible for the looting of the public funds must be treated with utter disdain.
The citizens are still living in poverty, without basic services such as water, electricity, health care, and shelter. Corruption is delaying the country’s progress and it further makes it difficult for the government to address the needs of South African citizens.
In 1955, the Congress of the People adopted the Freedom Charter which remains the ANCs’ basic policy. One of the main declarations in the Freedom Charter reads: “The people shall share in the country’s wealth”. All those who are looting, directly oppose the principles of the founding document of all ANC policies. This makes them “ASKARIs”, individuals responsible for the gross human rights violation. This is why corruption makes it impossible for the government to appropriately conduct poverty alleviation interventions.
All ASKARIs must be purged from the ANC, for the ANC’s survival. It is no doubt that the ANC is the leader of society and it remains to be an important institution in the advancement of the struggle of our people. The ANC should not take the recent corruption allegations against its members lightly, as it threatens the sovereignty of the ANC in the political discourse of South Africa.
Imagine a South-Africa with ANC members whose only passion and purpose are to uphold the objectives of the policies of the ANC. This is the future we are all looking forward to. The problem is not the ANC, but the problem is the bogus members who are using the ANC to enrich themselves and their families.
The ANC should not only relieve them from their duties but should terminate their membership. Simply because their transgression was not only against the government but also against the ANC’s core values.
We cannot blame the ANC for the corruption committed by the few, the ANC has in its ranks, comrades who are loyal to the country and the people. There are still countless individuals who are not corrupt in the ANC. The incumbent President of the ANC Cde Cyril Ramaphosa was heavily criticized aber writing a letter to the ANC and stated that the ANC stands as accused number one in the recent charges of corruption against its members.
Ramaphosa was criticized for implicating the whole movement over the crimes that were committed by the few. Subsequent to his letter, the former President Cde JG Zuma, also wrote a letter addressing the current ANC President.
Cde Zuma was rebuking him for shifting the blame towards the movement instead of calling out the ASKARIs. Zuma wrote: “Mr. President, your letter commits the cardinal error of implicating the ANC in matters that, we as leaders and those deployed in the state, must account for. To point your sharp end at the en?re ANC and its ordinary working-class members is rather low and disappointing, to say the least. Presently formulated, your letter lends credence to the suspicion that you seek to assist those, in our own ranks, involved in the attempts to destroy the- ANC in order to hand it over to be a tool of White Monopoly Capital interest.” With all its faults the ANC has done a lot and still has a lot to do for the people of this country.
The ANC is a leader of our society and it should be protected from all the ASKARIs who seek to destroy Bafana Phalane. Our glorious movement with their greed. It should be the agenda of all ANC members to protect the movement against individuals who care about their bellies more than they care for our country. The ANC brand should be safeguarded against all ASKARIs who are working with the enemy to destroy the movement loved by the majority of the citizens. It is important to note that individuals who commit crimes and are within the ranks of the ANC, do not represent the ANC.
The ANC should develop a hostile attitude towards criminals especially those who are sent to serve the public. Crime against our people must be treated as the highest form of treason.
Bafana Phalane Lilies leaf farm branch, Ward 112
The future is bright. The end is glorious, it is peaceful. But the intervening period is dark, bitter, and finds its glory in the act of struggle.”
OR Tambo at the funeral of Joe Qabi.