The intensity of Mangaung fever is being felt by all and sundry in every corner of South Africa. Lobbying and jostling for position in this or that slate to capture the soul of the ruling party are at their peak.
The road to Mangaung is full of potholes. The fault lines, tensions, backstabbing and bickering within the ANC seem set to be the order of the day until Mangaung comes and goes.
That’s how the politics of contestation has become in the ANC.
It should be encouraged and celebrated to the extent that it entrenches democracy and unites party and country alike.
It should be discouraged if it creates confusion, divisions and a negative vibe in local and foreign investor circles.
The ANC has a huge responsibility to manage its campaign in ways that reinforce confidence in the direction in which the country is moving. Anything contrary to that would be unhelpful to the national interest.
There are emerging voices on the local and international fronts raising doubts about the state of the nation and its leadership.
President Jacob Zuma and his administration need to focus on doing the right things to fix South Africa’s problems on a sustained basis and deploy effective strategies to showcase their successes at home and abroad.
The Economist magazine weighed in this past week on the “sad decline” of South Africa. This followed the downgrading of South Africa by credit rating agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
It has also become common, if not fashionable, in local circles to complain about poor leadership or a lack of leadership, which is blamed for all that is said to be wrong with the country.
Leadership matters. It needs to be built across all sectors of society.
The timing of all these pronouncements is not accidental as the momentum towards what is likely to be the most contested elective conference of the oldest liberation movement in Africa increases.
The stakes are high – not just for South Africans but for the local and international investor communities too.
The big question is: what impact will the leadership election have on the country’s economic and political future? The increasingly negative reportage is hardly surprising as it is part of the contestation in which all means are deployed to try to shape outcomes at Mangaung in favour of particular factions.
However, we need to look beyond Mangaung and ask how we can make this a great and First World nation within a generation, as indeed I think we can and must.
Regardless of who emerges as the president, we have to rally around her or him to ensure that, in the ultimate analysis, South Africa is the winner rather than an individual or a faction. South Africa needs to reinvent itself after Mangaung as a great and admired nation.
This requires a total renewal of how government institutions function and deliver on their mandates. We need efficient and delivering institutions and structures of government that are staffed by world-class technocrats.
Second, we need the leadership that emerges from Mangaung to articulate and perpetuate a compelling and unifying vision of the future, at the core of which must be positioning South Africa as a great, admired and winning country.
Third, fixing the country’s education system has to be the number one priority for a patriotic and committed leadership. This is a fixable problem. It requires political will and commitment to get it sorted out.
The Limpopo textbook scandal and the pedestrian performance of our education system in global rankings is as unacceptable as it is a threat to the country’s national economic interest and its global competitiveness.
Fourth, there is a need for a co-ordinated approach to attracting and retaining massive inflows of foreign direct investment. Linked to this is the need to rejuvenate our manufacturing sector as part of a broader strategy to prop up the industrialisation of our economy.
Fifth, unemployment will remain a ticking time bomb until a meaningful turnaround is unleashed.
Innovative strategies are required to fix this problem. More of the same will not help.
Smart incentives are required to encourage labour-intensive investments and the proliferation of entrepreneurs who are key to the success of any job-creation project.
The way in which the ruling ANC manages the build-up to the Mangaung conference, the conference itself and its aftermath will, need I say, have profound consequences for the country’s future fortunes and global positioning.
Leaders need to be very mindful that what they say and do is used by investors to take a positive or negative view of the country.
South Africa has what it takes to become a First World nation within a generation. What we need is the desire and hunger to succeed in a globally competitive world and do what it takes to be ahead of the pack.
Committed and competent leadership after Mangaung would be an indispensable prerequisite for South African success in a globally competitive and globalising world. Luckily South Africa has world- class leadership material that can and will propel the country to greatness. The weakness is the tendency by some to undermine the leadership of others for this or that unsound reason.
Whoever wins in Mangaung will have to contend with key national and strategic challenges and choices that the nation faces.
South Africa needs to inculcate a new long-term and strategic way of viewing the country.
Political party conferences and general elections are, by their very nature, short-term and potentially divisive and acrimonious events. They don’t have to be like that all the time. It is crucial to look beyond them and focus on what is good for the country in the short, medium and long term.
We need a brand of leadership that can think and plan beyond the next party conference and the next general election.
China’s enviable prosperity and success in liberating 400 million people from poverty over the past 15 years is the result of strategic planning underpinned by disciplined and effective execution.
The ability to execute and deliver results in a disciplined and effective way is what is lacking in South Africa and Africa at large. Execution is key. Results are key.
South Africa needs to focus on execution and delivery. We need to focus on building a capable and delivering state that is on top of its game.
The leadership that emerges from Mangaung must define a new purpose based on a single-minded focus on execution and delivery.
The ANC can and must reinvent itself as a party of delivery underpinned by a world-class technocratic and meritocratic civil service and a leadership that is accountable to the people and the constitution.
n Dlamini is a member of the national council of the SA Institute of International Affairs at Wits University.