Mogomotsi Mogodiri
Pretoria - The Chinese Communist Party (CPC) is currently holding its 20th National Congress in Beijing (it started on October 16), where 2 296 delegates are representing the CCP’s estimated 90 million members.
It is reported the National Congress will be a culmination of “preparations that commenced in 2021 during which local and provincial party organisations began electing delegates to the congress as well as receiving and amending party documents”.
On average, it means a single delegate will be representing about 42 000 members. When we juxtapose this number with the delegate-member ratio of the ANC, that have, give or take, one million members and about 4 000 delegates that will be attending its national conference this December, it means a delegate will be representing 250 members on average. Chalk and cheese!
Another interesting statistic is that the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party comprises 275 full-time members and 177 alternatives. The ANC has 86 NEC members, excluding provincial chairpersons and secretaries, which makes it 104, with a handful being full time.
The mayhem at Luthuli House, the ANC’s headquarters, and the lack of accountability by public representatives shouldn’t surprise anyone as there’s hardly anyone holding them accountable. They are a law unto themselves. Hence, they run havoc, with impunity, against ANC policies.
What’s the significance of this “arithmetic”, and what lessons can we draw from the Chinese Communist Party’s (CPC) model of representation at and preparations for its conferences?
First, the CPC places a premium on quality.
As one of the oldest and the biggest communist parties in the world, it seems to have learned the lesson that it’s not about numbers, but quality. Their approach debunks the myth about strength being in numbers when it comes to policy deliberations.
While having a huge membership, they seem to have mastered the art of ensuring that representation is made substantive by ensuring proper and timeous preparation and serious debates take place well in advance and where it matters most – locals and provinces.
By the time delegates are finalised, policy deliberations have taken place, and those attending the national congress carry the mandate of those they represent.
At the Congress, the Chinese Communist Party seems to live by the mantra, as espoused by the Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist, Vladimir Lenin, that “better fewer, but better”. In short, it means quality trumps quantity.
The CPC also offers a lesson in proper preparation for a conference, as opposed to being involved in malicious compliance – an act of ticking boxes instead of assessing and appreciating the impact that policy choices have on the present and future.
South Africans can also draw lessons about the seriousness with which members and leaders of the Chinese Communist Party take their congress. It’s not taken or treated in a literal sense as an elective platform, but serves as an opportunity to reimagine China and the direction it needs to take if it is to become the greatest and most prosperous nation in the world.
Delegates have a huge responsibility, and they are able to execute their mandates with aplomb because they went through a rigorous process of recruiting, training and mentoring prior to being considered for leadership responsibilities.
There is nothing surprising about a leader at any level of the CPC as they don’t leave anything to chance – something that is diametrically opposite to what we experience in our country.
The CPC accounts for all their members and leaders from childhood. Their Inspection Directorate is tasked with investigating a member’s general conduct as a citizen from childhood. This exercise helps in determining whether you qualify as a member first prior to even being considered for any leadership position.
Patriotism is also at the core of the CPC’s approach to galvanising citizens to become part of their efforts toward socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Even though it might sound like an unfair comparison, the ANC as a governing party is kilometres away from giving leadership, statecraft, governance, political management and envisioning the seriousness they deserve.
The ANC is approaching its 55th National Conference this December. What has characterised the preparations for this indaba?
It’s trite that the road to Nasrec 2.0 is littered with pitfalls, including more focus being on personalities or candidates as opposed to policy deliberations.
While the ANC didn’t, for whatever reason, hold its National General Council (NGC) and therefore denied itself the opportunity to assess progress or the lack thereof since the last national conference, we are instead seeing a flurry of members, including the NEC incumbents, raising their hands, availing themselves to be elected as members of the National Executive Committee (NEC).
While this is healthy, and members are exercising their rights as provided for by the ANC constitution, it is an anomaly that most energy is expended on elections as though the conference has become the once-famous “Shell Road to Fame” competition instead of focusing more on what the challenges the ANC and country are facing, and what needs to be done. Unfortunately, it’s more form over substance.
This unhelpful development cannot, and should not, be normalised by not redirecting and refocusing our conversations, leading to the national conference back to substantive issues instead of an inexplicable obsession with names and personalities.
Whie its constitution stipulates that the ANC must hold its national conference every five years, is this option (insisting on an elective conference regardless of the prevailing debilitating circumstances) the most viable to rebuild the ANC and make it reclaim its historical role of being the leader of society?
Given the existential crisis engulfing the ANC, persisting in holding the national conference is not the most appropriate action to contribute towards extricating tit from the existential crisis engulfing it.
Instead, the holding of the run-of-the-mill national conference will further deepen the crisis while fragmenting the organisation much more.
To redeem itself, the ANC will need to ensure there are better preparations, including minimising disputes regarding branch general meetings and electoral rules and insisting on policy documents being the central focus.
The ANC desperately needs to take a leaf from the Chinese Communist Party’s book, especially regarding political management and leadership, including identification, training, election and selection of talent, their shortcomings notwithstanding.
As the leader of society, it needs to return to the basics – leverage on the supremacy of its ideas while using the power of persuasion, and not arrogance and aggression.
At the very least, the ANC should hold a conference that will set our country on a higher developmental trajectory that paves the way for genuine independence, including expropriation of land without compensation and true economic emancipation.
Pretoria News