I read with shocking disbelief the anti-ANC article by the so called "political analyst" of etv and journalist Justice Malala. I would like to correct what seems to be either a deliberate distortion of history on his part or blatant ignorance of the history of our struggle against apartheid because despite his claims, he was not involved in the struggle for liberation and or his involvement cannot be verified.

I must also hasten to add that it is below Comrade Pallo Jordan's dignity to be debating with Malala, clearly, the newsman is flattered by this especially coming from a renowned revolutionary, a theorist and an intellectual par excellence who is past compare!

Malala says that the ANC did not liberate us and, instead, it was his "friends and relatives" who liberated us under the banner of the Mass Democratic Movement. This would be funny if it weren't coming from a person who masquerade as a "political analyst" who enjoys space in a daily newspaper and has a weekly slot in a free-to-air broadcaster who is often called upon to weigh in on prime time TV news to give perspective on major political stories.

Let me set the record straight, Comrades Popo Molefe and Trevor Manuel must be very embarrassed by the feeble attempt of Malala to patronize them with his ignorant praises. These revolutionaries know fully well that the Mass Democratic Movement, which they were at the core of its leadership, and the UDF in particular, was the creation of the African National Congress as part of mass mobilization which was one of the four (4) pillars of the anti-apartheid struggle.

Likewise, Comrade Jay Naidoo and other founders of Cosatu must be cringing in sympathy with this public display of ignorance by Malala because they know fully well that the ANC played a major role in the formation of the GIANT in 1985 in Durban when Congress of South African Trade Unions was formed.

Let me blunt and inform the glorified "political analyst" but who is nothing but an acute embarrassment that most of the founders of these movements (UDF, Cosatu, Sanco, Sayco) were ANC underground operatives who received direct orders from then ANC President, Comrade OR Tambo.

If Malala could verify the aforesaid, he will have no qualms accepting that the ANC
liberated us. Quite clearly, he accepts that the Mass Democratic Movement freed us yet fails to recognise the links between the ANC and the Mass Democratic Movement and the centrality of the ANC in the MDM formations.

Why Malala downplays the importance of the armed struggle, the underground and international isolation of the apartheid regime (sanctions) as other vitally important pillars of the struggle boggles the mind. It's amazing for a person who masquerades as an analyst because the title presupposes fervent reading and research!

Similarly, Comrades Peter Mokaba, Rapu Molekwane and other South African Youth Congress founders acted upon the instructions from Lusaka, then ANC Headquarters. In fact, these comrades were both part of the ANC underground structures whose principal task was to unite and coordinate the work of different hitherto disjointed efforts of the local youth structures in communities.

I was a member of HUYO, Huhudi Youth Organization, in Vryburg which eventually became a branch of SAYCO. Unlike Malala, I was not an unconcerned bystander, a curious observer or armchair critic while my "friends and relatives" fought a good fight for freedom.

Malala need only read the resolutions of the national conference of the UDF which was held in KwaMhlanga in 1991 which disbanded the UDF and integrated its leaders into the ANC.  In any case, the UDF adopted the Freedom Charter at the occasion of its launch in Cape Town, doesn't that say something Mr. analyst?

The historical facts are clear and speak for themselves, Malala's basis for an erroneous conclusion has been removed without any effort, and his whole argument has collapsed with it. I hope that maybe, just maybe, Malala sees the folly of his argument.

I found it cheap and distasteful that Malala tried to amplify his otherwise feeble argument by referring to comrade Pallo Jordan's regrettable experience in exile. Clearly, Malala engages in sophistry and casuistry by quoting a website entry into what happened in the ANC detention camps. He does this without giving credit to the ANC for engaging in such a noble, self-critical exercise. So much for a balanced reporting and analysis!

Malala is in denial about the role of the ANC in the liberation of the South African people - black and white. Since he can't read for himself and talk is cheap and less demanding then detailed reading - may be the following facts would assist him in his pass time activities and peddling divisive rumours and mongering:

• the ANC was central in the hosting of the Congress of the People and drafting of the Freedom Charter together with progressive forces for change;
• the ANC was central in the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Constitution of SA which reflects the principles, values of the Freedom Charter;
• since 1994 an overwhelming majority of people have repeatedly voted for the ANC in national and local elections;
• the ANC has changed lives of many especially the previously oppressed masses of our people;
• to date, despite its short comings, the people believe that Ke ANC Fela!

Who is Malala to think that we are all delusional?

>> Modisenyane Segapo is an ANC BEC member in Naledi Sub-Region Ward 2 in the North West Province. This article first appeared in ANC Today.

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