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Reverend Frank Chikane has vowed to continue speaking out after a hard-hitting document he wrote was made public. In it he warned about the ANC’s demise, which ruffled feathers in the party and earned him both wrath and praise.
Chikane wrote and distributed the document before the ANC’s national general council (NGC), warning that the party was losing popular support and risked losing elections unless it did a proper introspection and acknowledged its past mistakes.
He said the risk of ANC support falling below 50% in the next municipal elections was real and dangerous.
Chikane has defended himself against criticism, saying none of it dealt with the content of his document.
He said he had received “overwhelming” support from most members, who agreed with the points he raised.
The former presidency director-general said he was happy that ANC President Jacob Zuma and secretary-general Gwede Mantashe also spoke about some of the points he had raised in their presentations to the NGC.
In his speech, Zuma highlighted falling party-membership numbers, factionalism and leaders who did not serve members, echoing Chikane.
Mantashe, however, accused Chikane of leaking the document to City Press, though we obtained it from our own sources.
Further censure came from ANC head of research Thami ka Plaatjie, who accused Chikane of grandstanding and “self-seeking”, along with having been quiet when then president Thabo Mbeki was in charge.
Chikane said that none of his critics had responded to the substance of his arguments.
“I have not heard any serious criticism. No one can tell me corruption is okay. Nobody can tell me that victimising people and factionalism is okay. Nobody can point me to ANC policy that says if you don’t vote for me, I will not appoint you,” he said.
“They must say what it is in the article that they are against, not how Frank Chikane presents himself. That is irrelevant.”
The ANC veteran vowed that nobody would stop him from expressing himself.
“When people attack me on Twitter, I say thank you very much! God bless you.
“The apartheid system could not stop me. And if you want to shoot me, God bless. The truth is the truth.”
Chikane said he would not respond to Ka Plaatjie because there was nothing worth responding to.
He said he was not surprised that most ANC members he had interacted with agreed with him, because many shared his concerns.
“Even people who are not card-carrying members of the ANC love this organisation and they believe they own it. We have to fix it because if something goes wrong with the ANC, we have a problem.
“Nobody will vote for a party that is self-serving. Even if you fail at implementing some policies, people must see that you are trying.”
