Watching implosion of ANC, Tambo, Mandela legacy across the fence!

This year was dedicated to OR Tambo, President of the ANC-in-exile, by the ANC leaders. Coincidentally this is the month OR Tambo died a few weeks before SA became the democracy he had dedicated his life to achieve.

It’is also the month in which the ANC under the presidency of Nelson  Mandela of the Madiba clan led the ANC to its historic victory after 84 years of the freedom struggle that grew from humble petitions to political authorities in loco, and deputations to colonial overlords sitting in Westminster. The ANC liberation struggle is recognised as the longest of the African struggles. Besides starting at low gear it slowly gathered speed as it climbed up the mountain ridge;  one marvelous thing about the ANC  was it spread its wings across the colonial borders. The  High Commission Territories (HCT) the British Protectorates of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland were full members from the onset. Dikgosi/amakhosi/chiefs and their subjects joined en bloc.

From the handwringing petitioner, through the Native Representative Council (NRC), until  exposed by firebrand Paul Mosaka, as a ‘toy telephone,’ through the cap-in-hand deputations across choppy seas to London, the ANC developed into an organisation of all seasons, that repaid the rising fury of the enemy’s viciousness  with compound interest. Racial discrimination initially known as the ‘colour bar’ reflected in ‘passes laws’ and night curfew for Bantu, drastically assumed alarming proportions in residential segregation,  Immorality Act, Bantu Education Act, and Bantu homelands with all-white Parliament inciting whites outside to hate and terrorising  blacks. Dr Malan quizzed  his audience whenever  he opened his public rally speeches: “Waar staan ek (where do I stand)?  When they roared back that he was standing on speaker’s platform, he’d  correct them, “Nee, ek staan op die kaffir se nek (no, I am standing on the kaffir’s neck)!”

Editor's Comment
Bulela Ditswe entry fee could hamper broke talent

The fees have been doubled from the previous amounts and raise concerns about political participation accessibility and democratic representation principles.This significant fee increase prompts questions regarding its impact on grassroots democracy.On one hand, the fees act as a filter, ensuring only serious contenders enter the race, potentially reducing frivolous candidacies and generating crucial campaign funds. The BDP argues that aspiring...

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