Statement by the NEC of MKMVA calling for decisive action to save the ANC, and protect our revolution

18 August 2020

As veterans of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) the members of MKMVA are the backbone, and sharp cutting point of the spear of our liberation struggle. We joined MK as volunteers who were prepared, if needs be, to lay down our lives fighting for the full liberation of our people.

As trained liberation soldiers we adhere to revolutionary military discipline. We are not only well-trained and capable in the disciplined handling of arms, we are also trained political commissars who know that political ideology and analyses must always inform every step that we take on the long revolutionary road that we are marching along.

Sound political analyses, informed by a working class bias, and pro-poor socio-economic political ideology, led to the seminal decision to form Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961, and to take up arms against the apartheid regime. On the 16th of December 1961 MK launched our first military operations, and the MK Declaration that we published, and distributed through the length and breadth of our country, stated: “The time comes in the life of every nation where there remain only two choices - submit or fight”. This pledge must be read in conjunction with the Oath of Allegiance that every one of us, as soldiers of MK, took when we voluntarily joined: “I place myself in the service of the people, the movement and its allies. I promise to serve with discipline and dedication at all times maintaining the integrity and solidarity of Umkhonto Umkhonto we Sizwe, the people’s army.”

The Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Code that was released at the Kabwe Consultative Conference in June 1985, furthermore stated: “Those who join Umkhonto we Sizwe, the People’s Army, perform a sacred duty to our people, our nation and the South African Revolution. When we have liberated our country, Umkhonto we Sizwe will constitute the basis of the defence forces of our country and the Revolution, and will serve as an instrument of social progress”.

We deliberately quote from these historical documents as a reminder of how MK was formed, and what the essence of our historical task had always been. It is with this revolutionary understanding that we are issuing this media statement.

Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA), whose members consist of the most militant and dedicated cadres in the ranks of the ANC, has in the context of unprecedented credibility crisis that the African National Congress is faced with, consulted widely with our membership.

This official media statement by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of MKMVA is a deliberate intervention in that current fundamental crisis, and to bring an end to the rot. It is a mandated intervention reflecting the views, intentions, and clear demands of our MKMVA members, who are all ex-combatants of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK).

MKMVA is distraught and deeply concerned about recent revelations of wanton and large scale corruption. Every manifestation of corruption should be condemned, exposed and acted against. However, the stealing and miss-appropriation of literally billions of Rands of emergency solidarity funds in the context of the COVID-19 lockdown crisis - with the resultant increase in joblessness, poverty and hunger of an increasingly large number of South Africans - is truly beyond the pale. In its moral depravity and disdain for the people of our country it is unequaled.

It contravenes every principle that the African National Congress should stand for. Indeed it is repulsive, counter-revolutionary to the core, and must be condemned without any reservation whatsoever! The factionalism and disunity within the ANC, that is also prevalent in the National Executive Committee (NEC), - which is the highest decision making body of the ANC - have taken on such unequalled proportions that our beloved Liberation Movement is literally paralyzed, and is failing the people of our country in their hour of need. This is tantamount to the treasonous betrayal of our revolution.

The ANC is in the throws of a deep - and potentially fatal - existential crisis. It is indeed a watershed moment, and the situation can certainly not be allowed to continue along this disastrous downhill trajectory.

The ANC has truly reached a cross-roads. If urgent, and decisive, corrective action is not taken right now, we stand to loose all of the gains of our hard-fought for liberation struggle. The members of MKMVA declares today, similar to the MK Declaration of 1961, that we will not be found wanting - we will certainly not submit, we will fight! Many of our members have sacrificed their lives in the liberation struggle, but they have certainly not done so for a society where corruption is rife, and the little bit of bread of the poorest of the poor is literally yanked out of their mouths by vultures to feed their insatiable glutinous appetites, and sickening over-the-top lifestyles.

MKMVA is appalled by the persistent divisions, and insidious factionalism, within the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC. It is a sad reality that since the 54th National Conference of the ANC, which was held in December 2017, the infighting has not stopped. In fact as time progresses it is becoming worse.

This insidious, pathetic, infighting and defending of factional turfs, literally paralyze the National Executive Committee, and thus the whole ANC. This is seen in the lack of implementation of the Resolutions of the 54th National Conference of the ANC, with specific reference to the Radical Economic Transformation policy Resolutions that are meant to economically empower black (especially African) South Africans. Hardly any decisions are taken, because factions fight each other to a standstill, and more often than not the ANC - that should be the leader of society - finds itself in a stalemate situation.

This is reflected in the communiques/media statements that are issued after NEC meetings. They are verbose balancing acts, devoid of courage and ideological clarity, only reflecting the quagmire of impasse, and hardly ever leading to any action. There is no decisive leadership. More often than not it seems that our once proud Liberation Movement has become a rudderless ship tossed around amidst the storms of economic depression, the COVID-19 pandemic, and corruption.

The statement that the ANC NEC issued after the last NEC meeting was one of the worst examples of this sad reality. It was weak in the extreme, pontificated about corruption, while actually failing to take decisive action.

It is not surprising that increasingly every time the NEC of the ANC issues a media statement, it is met with growing anger and cynicism. The avalanche of negative public reaction and outrage speaks for itself, as is evident in the ‘#VoetsekANC’ social media campaign, which thousands of South Africans participate in, and until now shows no sign of dissipating.

The fact of the matter is that many of those who are participating in this campaign were previously supporters of, and sympathizers with, the ANC. They are exasperated, and angered, by the ANC’s lack of unity and inability to act decisively to address the socioeconomic crisis that our country is daily sinking into deeper and deeper.

They rightfully feel betrayed by the Liberation Movement in which they placed their hopes for a better life, and that they have supported election after election. Increasingly the people’s love for the ANC is turning into disdain, and even hate. MKMVA has on numerous occasions warned that the lack of unity and leadership from our current NEC is taking us along a very perilous path. The time to beat about the bush is long over.

As MKMVA we have earned our right to speak out. Although the candidate that we supported was not elected as President of the ANC at the ANC 54th National Conference in 2017, we accepted the outcome, and MKMVA was the first structure within the ANC family to issue a statement congratulating President Cyril Ramaphosa, and the National Office Bearers (NOB’s), with their election and pledged our support to the then newly elected NEC. Since then we rallied behind that elected leadership, and worked tirelessly for the implementation of all the Resolutions of the 54th National Conference.

This included a Resolution about forging unity among all ex-MK combatants, which many of our members felt undermined the legitimate constitutional standing of MKMVA, but in line with the principle of democratic centralism, and respecting our Mother-body the ANC, the leadership of MKMVA convinced our membership to accept the process and we diligently participated in it under the auspices of the Peace and Stability Sub-Committee of the ANC NEC.

Our discipline and commitment paid off, and we were on the verge of holding a Unity Conference when the COVID-19 lockdown led to it being delayed. Furthermore, our MKMVA members throughout played a constructive role in all national, provincial and local government structures. In line with the relevant Resolutions of the 54th National Conference applicable to MKMVA, we concentrated on programs to promote the wellbeing of military veterans.

Sadly, our discipline has not been reciprocated by our leaders in the NEC, the Provincial Executive Councils (PEC’s), regional structures, and the ANC Ministers deployed in government. MKMVA wanted a full, and autonomous, Ministry for Military Veterans, this was denied to us, and again as disciplined cadres we accepted for the Department of Military Veterans (DMV) to be integrated into the Ministry of Defence, while we still continue to motivate and work for an independent Ministry of Military Veterans. We are deeply disappointed by the poor performance of the DMV.

While we acknowledge some services are delivered with regards to housing and education for Military Veterans and their dependents, service delivery is a bureaucratic nightmare, and woefully inadequate.

The incomplete DMV database of military veterans is an insult to many ex-MK veterans whose names are still omitted. However, we appreciate that a process has now started to correct this situation. The majority of MK-veterans continue to languish in poverty. In 2007 Resolutions were taken to address the plight of ex-MK veterans, thirteen years later these are still not implemented. While we appreciate the delivery of houses to some of our comrades, many of our people on a daily basis still go to sleep without food! Sadly, in this period of the COVID-19 lockdown matters have just become worse.

No self-respecting nation does not take care of it’s own freedom fighters. We should hang our heads in shame! We have hoped for the ANC NEC to act decisively with regards to corruption, but instead they continue to fail to take decisive action. Instead there are attempts to embroil the state security agencies in the factional politics of one-upmanship that dominates the conduct of the current ANC NEC. Sadly factionalism makes the NEC not to pursue theft and corruption everywhere, and in all its manifestations. In this regard civil society and religious institutions are complicit.

When it suited organizations such as the Save South Africa campaign, the so-called ‘101 Veterans’ (who acted outside any ANC organizational mandate), and sadly even the South African Council of Churches (SACC), to target President Zuma with allegations of corruption they were daily extolling themselves as paragons of morality, and fighters of corruption par excellence.

Now their silence and inaction about the massive COVID-19 looting speak volumes about selective morality and sheer hypocrisy. Even when they do, on the odd occasion, say something about the current wave of massive corruption they are quiet about those political leaders whom they favor, while selectively using allegations of corruption against those whom they want to target.

Brave and principled MK cadres challenged serious problems in the ANC in exile in the late 1960’s, and ensured that the Morogoro Consultative Conference was held from the 25th of April to the 1st of May 1969, where problems of leadership elitism, cronyism, corruption and maltreatment of MK cadres, that were raised in the ‘Hani Memorandum’, were openly and decisively addressed. MKMVA now again takes a similar stance and insists that the serious ills of factionalism, corruption and elitism must be addressed urgently and immediately. In this regard the National Office Bearers (NOB’s) of MKMVA will request an urgent meeting with the National Office Bearers (NOB’s) of the ANC to engage as a matter of the utmost urgency, and raise our concerns and demands.

As was the case in the Morogoro Conference we have a revolutionary duty to ensure that our intervention will, and must, be decisive. We are fully aware that the gains of our liberation struggle, and indeed the future of the African National Congress, is at stake. All of this culminate into a most awful situation that leaves MKMVA with no other option but to stand up in defence of our people, and our beloved Liberation Movement. The ANC is in grave danger of loosing its position as the leader of society, and being destroyed.

We can never allow that to happen. As the liberation soldiers of MK, our People’s Liberation Army, we must always be true to the Oath of Allegiance that we took. MKMVA demands that all corruption must be cleaved open to the bone and cleaned up, without any fear or favor. This will only be possible if factionalism is rooted out. Specifically also the way in which selective outrage against only certain manifestations of corruption is used as an insidious tool in factional battles.

The full, grand scale, of the looting of COVID-19 solidarity funds must be exposed and dealt with. MKMVA will not tolerate the attempts by some among us, with the assistance of the mainstream media that is sympathetic to them, to draw attention away from the megalooters with sensational media articles about corruption regarding small personal protective equipment (PPE) tenders. This terrible tendency to go for mainly small black entrepreneurs and expose their corruption in order to divert attention away from the big cases of corruption must be fought tooth and nail.

We are not saying that if smaller entrepreneurs are involved in corruption that they should not be apprehended, but it cannot be allowed that action against them is used to cover-up truly big corruption of hundreds of millions and billions of Rands. Such behavior is corrupt in itself, and must be exposed no matter who among our ANC comrades and leadership are involved.

The issue of COVID-19 looting is truly the litmus test for President Ramaphosa. The President campaigned on an anti-corruption ticket, and for unity in the ANC. To successfully lynch the boil of corruption that is now poisoning the whole body of our Liberation Movement, factionalism and selective morality that destroys unity must be rooted out.

For the sake of the restoration of the credibility of the ANC, MKMVA insists that our President must act decisively against all the COVID-19 emergency fund looters, no matter what their proximity to him may be. He certainly has the constitutional powers to do so, and he has the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), and other security agencies, at his disposal to act immediately. MKMVA is perplexed about the role that the announced Inter-Ministerial Committee will play, except to get involved in parallel work and thus muddy the waters. MKMVA therefore calls for the Inter-Ministerial Committee to be dissolved, and for the security agencies to be allowed the freedom to do their work without any interference or hindrance.

MKMVA acknowledges the hard work of President Ramaphosa, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, and all members of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC), in the fight to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and to save lives. We continue to pledge our full support for that ongoing effort. The serious concerns that we raise in this NEC Statement of MKMVA are part of that overall commitment.

As disciplined liberation soldiers we pledge our continuing revolutionary loyalty to the ANC. Our MK commissars, with all their unequalled experience and training, is a political resource for the ANC, and they must be deployed and utilized. We re-dedicate ourselves to protect our beloved Liberation Movement from any form of malfeasance and counterrevolutionary behavior, from within or outside, that can derail its historical duty as the liberation vanguard of the people of South Africa.

Issued by the President of MKMVA, comrade Kebby Maphatsoe, on behalf of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of MKMVA.