The ANC has ruled South Africa for three decades during which time the country has gone from the promise of the Rainbow Nation to disfunction and despair. In The Super Cadres, bestselling author Pieter du Toit examines this legacy from the early halcyon days through to the disappointment of the Ramaphosa presidency.
Du Toit asks key questions before coming to a critical observation and a damning conclusion:
What was the state of the ANC when it took power?
Was ANC failure inevitable? Did they inherit a country so stricken by apartheid that success was impossible?
When did the first signs of misrule and corruption occur?
How did each of the presidencies perform, from Mandela to Ramaphosa? What role did each play in the road to failure?
What was President Cyril Ramaphosa doing to stop state capture while he was deputy president?
Du Toit concludes that at the very centre of ANC - and thus state - failure is 'cadre deployment' which the ANC adopted as official party policy under President Thabo Mbeki. He shows how, over time, the appointment of cadres at every level of government inevitably led to the (con)fusion of party and state, the spread of incompetence, and the dire corruption that ate into every part of the country once Jacob Zuma took over.
In this episode of Pagecast, Pieter is in conversation with CapeTalk radio presenter John Maytham.