BOOK REVIEW: Unpicking the myth of the ANC’s struggle credentials
Whether by design or default, Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh’s take on the ANC’s early history in his book, Democracy and Delusion, induces stomach-churning laughter and tears as he tries to put paid to the party’s bombastic discourse about its early revolutionary leanings. Mpofu-Walsh’s narrative highlights the absurdities of the ANC’s contradictory politics and shows how its founding fathers were loath to challenge the colonial status quo. In the process, a picture emerges of an organisation desperately at odds with its early history. Delivered in incisive language, his juxtaposition of the party of old, which pandered to its colonial masters, and its contemporary image as a "revolutionary force" makes for informative and entertaining reading. This is because it lays bare the shaky edifice upon which the ANC has built its self-styled reputation as the country’s liberator-in-chief. In fact, the South African Native National Congress of the early 20th century, which would later become the ANC, w...
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