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Stephen Grootes Correspondent
On Friday both President Jacob Zuma and ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe outlined some of the major problems facing the ANC. Issues around gate-keeping, the loss of members, the rise of the “Premier League”, all of them confronted, with the kind of honesty that the party often displays during its conferences. But, talking about the problems isn’t going to necessarily fix them. The real problem facing the ANC now is one of structure, and the problem of a party that has its origins in a racial struggle.

Perhaps the soundbite that received the most airtime in the radio and TV bulletins on Friday afternoon was Zuma’s claim that there are “kingmakers”, or people who think they are kingmakers in the party. “There is no structure or league that has been accorded the status of being a kingmaker” was the money-quote.

It has been widely, and probably correctly, been seen as a dip at what is now becoming called the “Premier League” of three provincial leaders in the Free State, the North West and Mpumalanga, Ace Magashule, Supra Mahumapelo and David Mabuza. The comments have accompanied the usual public concern about the use of “slates”, or groups of leaders running together, that accompanies these conferences. On Friday morning, ANC Treasurer Zweli Mkhize told the Midday Report that dealing with this issue was very difficult because of the “self-interest” involved.

While many may praise Zuma for these comments, the problem really is that he has not provided any solutions. There are some who are so cynical by now about his own interests and intentions, that they may even believe he is only saying this about the “Premier League” because he has to, when in fact his own personal interests are aligned with the interests of the “Premier League”. That would lead to a much more interesting question about why he feels he must say this; is it a sign that he and they are actually facing strong opposition in the party that he must appease?

It is also interesting to examine what Zuma is saying now, that he is the incumbent coming to the end of his term. When Thabo Mbeki was in the same position in 2007, the ANC Youth League under the Washington Post’s favourite tweeter claimed it was a king-maker. And Zuma did not appear to take issue too strongly with that.

And of course, do we need to remind anyone that he himself came to power on a ‘slate’?

It is also not the first time an ANC leader has talked about the manipulation of branches; we’ve had this problem for a long time, and it is very difficult to stop, simply because it is a system that leads to power. If you have money, you can buy a branch, you then land a government contract, and you have more money. It is, for a certain kind of person, a virtuous circle. And once you make enough money, you are able to stop any kind of move to change this situation. Exhibit A, the NEC, you might say.

The issue of membership loss is also grabbing headlines, but possibly for the wrong reasons.

Both Zuma, and Mantashe appear to bemoan the loss of members over the last few years. The party had over a 1,22 million members in 2012, it now has just under 770 000. It may seem heresy to say this, but so what? The original massive figure was inflated anyway, as it happened just before the ANC’s 2012 Mangaung Conference. It is sometimes forgotten now, but many of the branches of the ANC battled to get a quorum of their members to actually vote on their preference. And if someone joins the ANC but can’t be bothered to make it to the most important meeting of their branch in a five year period, the one time when one person can make a real difference to the future of their party, then surely they were a member in card only. — DM.