JONNY STEINBERG: Blaming ‘Leninist party’ for state capture is superficial
The first 13 years of democracy were a honeymoon, followed by the inevitable fight
In DA intellectual circles a story explaining Jacob Zuma and state capture has become de rigueur. The problem, the story begins, did not start with Zuma’s ascension to the ANC presidency in 2007, nor with his association with the Guptas. The Zuma catastrophe was always going to happen, for the problem was the ANC itself: Mandela’s ANC, Mbeki’s ANC, the whole organisation and its history.
The ANC has never been what it said on the tin, the tale continues. It was never a nonracial, democratic organisation, but a Leninist organisation intent on capturing the state. And capture SA is exactly what it did in the 1990s, under Mandela, dissolving the line between state and party. All that happened in 2007 is that a more destructive crew took over. ..
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