Behind the ANC’s elections chaos

What’s in the M&G this week [View this email in your browser]( September 3, 2021 [Mail & Guardian]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Hi there, What is going on at Luthuli House? Elections are at its doorstep and yet its residents are disgruntled and disorganised. Plus, what does JZ’s undisclosed illness mean for his trial? This and more in this week’s Mail & Guardian. Whether the ANC gets a lifeline from the constitutional court to postpone the local government elections or not, the ruling party is in serious trouble, write Lizeka Tandwa, Paddy Harper and Athandiwe Saba. More than 1 000 branches of the party, about a third in total, [have laid formal complaints about the ANC’s local government candidates list process being manipulated]( and the outcomes not being that of the communities. Several regions are expected to approach the courts if their disputes are not dealt with. The ANC faces huge electoral losses over its failure to meet the deadline to register its local government candidates in 95 municipalities for the impending local government poll. Where there’s smoke, there’s usually Msholozi. In a case marked by delay upon delay and one trial within a trial after another for more than a decade, [Jacob Zuma’s arms deal case is likely to hit another wall next week — his health](. Emsie Ferreira has more. The National Prosecuting Authority is expected to demand a second opinion from a doctor of its own nomination after mulling a report from military doctors submitted by Zuma’s legal team last week. Before the ANC’s secretary general was suspended, humiliated and kicked out of national executive committee meetings, Ace Magashule, who took over the reins as the head administrator for the ANC in 2017, boasted of his successful reign at the party headquarters because he had increased the ANC’s membership by a whopping 25%, from less than a million members in 2017 to 1.4-million members. Tandwa explains why he can’t shoulder all the blame for the elections list drama. “The terrible events that have unfolded cannot be described as a labour dispute. They are plainly dastardly criminal and must be characterised as such. In line with this characterisation, there needs to be concomitant action to address this situation.” These were President Cyril Ramaphosa’s words in an email dated 15 August 2012 at midday. They [may come back to haunt him]( Saba reports. A day after he sent that email, 34 mineworkers were gunned down in Marikana, in the North West, in what became known as the Marikana massacre. Dozens of others were wounded and about 280 workers were arrested. With all the chaos at the ANC, there is a particular group of football fans who are experiencing a painful bout of déjà vu. In his column this week, Harper draws the [extraordinary parallel between Arsenal and the ruling party](. In an ideal world, whistleblowers would be neither extraordinary nor heroic. Reporting wrongdoing should be an ordinary act of responsible citizenry, treated calmly and with respect by those in authority, writes Richard Calland. In short, the message by [whistleblowers should be heeded and acted upon](. Instead, invariably the messenger is shot — literally, in the case of Sindiso Magaqa and Babita Deokaran. Erika Gibson tells the story of Neil Steyl, a South African pilot, his multinational crew and a 41-year-old Boeing 727 and how they [saved the lives of more than 600 Afghans]( as they flew into and out of Kabul’s airport in a race against time and possible further bomb attacks. Y’all-Qaeeda could teach the Taliban a thing or three about women’s rights. Time for a skills exchange in this week’s cartoon by Carlos Amato. Earlier this morning you might have noticed that one Mmusi Maimane shared a graphic — albeit without our logo — from our pages [without bothering to credit it](. Although we can expect such flippant behaviour from our politicians, the truth is good journalism costs money and takes time. The good news is you can snatch the absurdly good deal of a year’s subscription for R500. Don’t be like Aloysias. Be cool. Until Tuesday, Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham [Subscribe now]( Enjoy The Ampersand? Share it with your friends [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2021 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. Our mailing address is: Mail & Guardian Media LTD 25 Owl St BraamfonteinJohannesburg, Gauteng 2001 South Africa [Add us to your address book]( Want to change which mails you receive from Mail & Guardian? [Update your preferences]( to tell us what you do and don't want to receive, or [unsubscribe](. *If you are a paying subscriber, we recommend updating your preferences rather than unsubscribing, as you may miss important information relating to your subscription.