Happy birthday ANC, despite all your faults

On the January 8, one of the oldest political organisations in Africa, the ANC, will be 110 years in existence. That's a milestone.

The ANC has played a leading role in the fight against apartheid. When apartheid died, and democracy was ushered in, the glorious movement was elected to lead the nation.

The ANC has been in power for 27 uninterrupted years. This shows the confidence the nation had in the movement. This also gave the party the wrong impression that it will be in power forever. Therefore, it became arrogant.

How has the governing party performed in the past 27 years? Quite frankly, this is not an easy question to answer. However, it must be said that the ANC has failed to take the nation to the Promised Land.

The governing party has achieved a lot. It has built houses and installed electricity in many communities. The democratic government has also brought water to communities that didn't have it before.

That said, corruption negated all the good things the governing party has done. Billions of rand have been lost to the evil of corruption. The worst part is the ANC has made corruption fashionable.

This evil has also divided the governing party. The beneficiaries of corruption are fighting those who are trying to get rid of this cancer. As a result, service delivery suffered.

No doubt, the ANC has abused the confidence and trust the voters have shown in it. Instead of using its power to better the lot of the poor, as promised, it has used it for its own benefit.

The governing party will celebrate its 110th birthday worried. Its power is under threat: there is a possibility that it will receive less than 50% of the vote in the next elections.

Happy birthday ANC!

Thabile Mange, Mogale City