Thabo Mbeki says quality of ANC members has declined

Former president Thabo Mbeki has warned the ANC of potential consequences of allowing “opportunistic individuals” to infiltrate party ranks.

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, Mbeki expressed concern about the motivation behind some people joining political parties.

Former president Nelson Mandela was the first to warn the party, in 1997, of a decline in the quality of membership after 1994, he said.

“It was raised by President Mandela, when he gave his political report in Mahikeng in 1997 and said since we became government, there are many people joining the ANC not because they support its values, principles or whatever, but as a stepladder to a government job,” he said.

Mbeki believed the ANC leadership failed to respond to Mandela’s warning.

“Over the years you’ve had a deterioration in the quality of the membership of the ANC; not everybody, but some of these people. They are in government but they are doing things that have got nothing to do with the principles of the ANC. We failed to deal with this matter raised by Mandela in 1997. Please make sure we don’t bring it on.”

Mbeki called for collective efforts to prevent the further deterioration of ANC membership and to safeguard the integrity of SA’s political landscape.

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