JUSTICE MALALA: After the party
The fare on offer at the ANC’s recent policy conference was about as inspired as the event — and the organisation — itself
How was that for you? The ANC policy conference, that is. For many journalists — a whopping 1,600 were accredited to cover the event — huddled in the bitter cold at the party’s five-yearly policy jaw-jaw out at Nasrec, the question we were left asking was: is that it? It was billed as the greatest policy contestation of our time. High road or Jacob Zuma road? Failed state or Guptastan? Oops, sorry, that’s the same thing. It was all go. In the run-up, there had been a gnashing of teeth, pointing of fingers and even threats of fisticuffs among ANC leaders. The Free State ANC, no doubt with a script written for it by the Gupta family, made noises about white monopoly capital. Even Mosebenzi Zwane, the Gupta employee masquerading as the mining minister, had his script in hand to talk about the mining charter — particularly the bits he was given instruction on, such as the clause that says if you arrived in SA from India in 1993 then you clearly suffered under apartheid and should benefi...
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