RECENT developments within the ANC and its fraternal organisations are a clear indication that no one "can stop an idea whose time has come".
Yesterday the ANC released a statement denying that a note had been circulated to some branches discussing party leadership ahead of its national conference in 2012.
This after the Sunday Times had reported that Johannesburg and Tshwane party members had begun informal discussions about Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe succeeding President Jacob Zuma.
In June the ANC put a lid on its leadership succession debate at a central committee meeting of the Congress of SA Trade Unions.
The ruling party argued that such debates were premature, adding that the current leadership should be supported in taking forward their mandate until the end of their term in office.
At the heart of the whole saga is the ANC's concern that succession debates could and have led to situations in which candidates allegedly used nefarious methods to position themselves, creating factions within the party in the precess.
The problem is compounded by the fact that candidates now even have access to material resources they can use to "buy" loyalty.
The obvious concern is that this could lead to a situation in which people are voted into power not because of their leadership abilities but simply because of they can "buy" patronage.
We believe that putting a lid on the debate is hardly the best solution. Instead of containing it the debate is pushed underground, turning it into a festering sore that opens the party to opportunistic tendencies.
In this regard we support the ANCYL's call for opening up of ANC leadership succesion debate. This is to avoid further factionalism created by opportunists who take advantage of the current ban to push their wicked agendas.
But it is important to clarify that our support is limited to this specific call and has nothing to do with the decision by the league to disband its KwaZulu-Natal executive.
We support the call for the opening up of the debate simply because we believe it is in the public interest to have a situation in which the leadership of the ruling party is publicly discussed and interrogated.
We, as ANC leader Julius Malema said in his inaugural address after being re-elected in June , also believe that the people must be able to talk about their leaders.
Doing so, as Malema said, must not be seen as a vote of no confidence in the current leadership.
Let's speak about it
RECENT developments within the ANC and its fraternal organisations are a clear indication that no one "can stop an idea whose time has come".
Yesterday the ANC released a statement denying that a note had been circulated to some branches discussing party leadership ahead of its national conference in 2012.
This after the Sunday Times had reported that Johannesburg and Tshwane party members had begun informal discussions about Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe succeeding President Jacob Zuma.
In June the ANC put a lid on its leadership succession debate at a central committee meeting of the Congress of SA Trade Unions.
The ruling party argued that such debates were premature, adding that the current leadership should be supported in taking forward their mandate until the end of their term in office.
At the heart of the whole saga is the ANC's concern that succession debates could and have led to situations in which candidates allegedly used nefarious methods to position themselves, creating factions within the party in the precess.
The problem is compounded by the fact that candidates now even have access to material resources they can use to "buy" loyalty.
The obvious concern is that this could lead to a situation in which people are voted into power not because of their leadership abilities but simply because of they can "buy" patronage.
We believe that putting a lid on the debate is hardly the best solution. Instead of containing it the debate is pushed underground, turning it into a festering sore that opens the party to opportunistic tendencies.
In this regard we support the ANCYL's call for opening up of ANC leadership succesion debate. This is to avoid further factionalism created by opportunists who take advantage of the current ban to push their wicked agendas.
But it is important to clarify that our support is limited to this specific call and has nothing to do with the decision by the league to disband its KwaZulu-Natal executive.
We support the call for the opening up of the debate simply because we believe it is in the public interest to have a situation in which the leadership of the ruling party is publicly discussed and interrogated.
We, as ANC leader Julius Malema said in his inaugural address after being re-elected in June , also believe that the people must be able to talk about their leaders.
Doing so, as Malema said, must not be seen as a vote of no confidence in the current leadership.
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