In a powerful and candid address, African National Congress (ANC) stalwart and former minister, Dr. Naledi Pandor, has publicly bemoaned the current state of the party, criticizing members for self-serving pursuits and a loss of revolutionary morality. The remarks were delivered during the Gertrude Shope Memorial Lecture, held as part of the centenary commemoration for the late anti-apartheid icon who passed away earlier this year at the age of 99.
Pandor invoked the formidable spirit of Shope, a revered struggle hero, to highlight the acute leadership crisis and ideological decay within the ANC. “She had a look which stressed, ‘I can cope with whatever is sent my way.’ That is the kind of strength that is urgently necessary today,” Pandor stated, drawing a stark contrast between past resilience and present-day challenges.
Her speech presented a grim picture of a nation and a ruling party in profound distress. “Her country, South Africa, is confronting its most testing national and geopolitical stresses. An ANC that has run out of ideas,” Pandor said, echoing descriptions used by other senior leaders about the party that once commanded overwhelming majority support.
Pandor revealed that Gertrude Shope herself had been a “keen observer” of South Africa’s progress over its 30 years of democracy and had been dismayed by the current crop of leadership. While acknowledging advances in fields like education, science, and international trade, Pandor underscored a pervasive sense of disappointment.
“Sadly, she also knew of the corruption that has dragged the revolutionary morality of our leaders down,” Pandor declared, pinpointing the corruption crisis as a central cause of the party’s decline.
This scathing internal review comes at a precarious time for the ANC. Political pundits are warning of a further decline in electoral support, heightening fears within the party that it is approaching the end of its political lifespan if urgent action is not taken.
Pandor called for a return to the party’s foundational principles, arguing that “revolutionary morality and genuine renewal will secure victory for our leadership.” She insisted that this renewal must be practical, not merely conceptual. “We shouldn’t be talking about renewal in conceptual terms. We must talk about it in practical terms,” she urged.
Highlighting a blueprint for action, Pandor pointed to the historic role of the ANC Women’s League, which, after the party was banned in 1960, continued resistance through regional branches and exile networks. Upon the party’s unbanning in 1990, the League was instrumental in forming a national women’s coalition and drafting a Women’s Charter—efforts that were crucial in enshrining women’s rights in South Africa’s post-apartheid constitution.
Pandor stated that this same proactive and unified spirit must be embodied by the party’s women today. She also called for a broader national dialogue, noting, “We’re not a nation that has a common set of goals and objectives. We need to discuss why that is and begin to arrive at agreed approaches and objectives as a people.”
Referencing a recent meeting where the ANC hosted other African liberation movements to exchange ideas, Pandor suggested that current leaders must learn from how other nations have successfully combated social ills. This, she implied, is essential to restoring the trust the ANC has lost with the South African electorate.
The address has been met with applause from segments of the audience but is likely to reverberate through the party’s structures as a stark warning from one of its most respected veterans.
