Since the ANC's Polokwane conference in 2007 that brought comical president Jacob Zuma and his sycophants into government, the national interests were put on hold to pursue personal interests.

Zuma never hid the open phenomenon that became a culture in the ANC - that politicians should be fed first, before anyone else.

Most South Africans who still believe that politics is mainly about activism, like we see in developed countries, are now having to doubt their assertions.

It is a career and art to preserve wealth, hence the public has been told many times that it's cold outside the ANC.

The message is simple. Get connected with powerful factions or die hungry.

The current political crisis in South Africa should serve as a wake-up call for all patriotic individuals from all walks of life to map the way forward.

Trusting the ANC to be the messiah to fix all the problems South Africa is facing was the biggest mistake society ever committed.

The power battles on who should succeed who in the upcoming ANC conference in December is individualised as if it is the problem of everyone.

We all know that under former president Thabo Mbeki the economy grew at 3% because there was the will to make things better.

Under the current administration, the failures by reckless power mongers to stabilise our economy is attributed to the so-called "white monopoly capital".

ANC Youth League president Collen Maine was even proud to say the rand must fall so that when it rises again, blacks should be in charge.

It is now a slogan that whoever is concerned about the disruptions to the economy and political instability is aligned to wealthy white families. Sell-outs and greed are celebrated by the nationalists who claim to have an interest in empowering blacks, as if the Gupta family is black.

The old bank scandal the current administration ignored for about eight years is now popularised to overshadow the "State of Capture" report that the president and his syndicates should account for.

Poor youth were bused to march against Absa bank over a report that has probably been tampered with by the current public protector, but they couldn't march against Zuma, who violated the constitution.

They are lining up people like Mzwanele Manyi and the Black First Land First (BLF) mob aiming to divert attention from the real threat, which is state capture.

Leaving the economy and future of South Africa in the hands of ANC factions would tear the country apart. The failures in the education system and slow economic transformation plaguing society have reached a state of emergency.

Expecting a picked presidential candidate of the ANC who belongs to a faction to save South Africa from predatory economic setups is a daydream. The agenda of factions within the ANC is simple: they are formed to win power in exchange for government positions and business opportunities.

Political exiles such as Anwa Dramat, Pallo Jordan, Robert McBride and many more were persecuted by their fellow comrades for upholding ethical leadership.

Out of all the talents the ANC has from within, the country has been given people like Faith Muthambi, Mosebenzi Zwane, Nathi Nhleko and David Mahlobo to do the opposite of what government stood for.

South Africans will one day realise they missed the opportunity to save their country in the 2014 general elections. The celebrated ANC members who are crying foul against the current state of their party and the country missed the opportunity to save the party at the Mangaung elective conference in 2012.

Instead, the majority of them aligned with the man who today they regard as the source of all controversies, tarnishing the image of both their party and the country.

There is no hope that the ANC can self-correct. South Africans from all walks of life should save themselves by not allowing the factional squabbles of one party to destabilise their future.

Rofhiwa is studying towards a Master Degree in Political Studies at the University of Venda