The sight of an ANC T-shirt on the streets of Durban is getting rarer by the day. Ten years ago, young grassroots organisers had to be careful not to be too confrontational with the ANC at meetings and rallies, as the older people found it uncomfortable. These days the new slogan ‘Phansi nge ANC!’ (Down with the ANC!) elicits the loudest cheers.

But the intra-ANC battles are full of passion, often descending into violence, even murder. The attempt to dress this up in the language of ideology is little more than a mask for battles over access to resources.

A fortnight ago the battle moved into the Olive Convention Centre. The Zuma faction, now known, bizarrely, as the Taliban, came clad for a metaphorical bloodbath, humming Wenzeni uZuma? (What did Zuma do?)

The Freedom Charter, with its democratic vision of a future in which a social democratic state would provide homes, land and good schools for the people, is long gone. Democratic popular politics of the 1980s are also a distant memory. Now the Taliban, frequently engaging in violence and political repression outside of formal structures, wants nothing but money and power, leaving collapsing cities and infrastructure in its wake.

The fact that erstwhile ANC chairperson Sihle Zikalala cut his teeth in the youth structures of the mass democratic movement during the most violent period in the run-up to the first democratic elections counted for zilch. The fact that he had rallied the movement’s fortunes for more than a decade as provincial secretary and chairperson cut no ice. His prominence as the country’s most prominent, and some say most effective, premier didn’t mean a thing.

With the battle lines clearly carved out, the Taliban demanded a pound of Zikalala’s flesh. In one night’s factionalised balloting, Zikalala and his supporters were trounced. Zikalala clung on to the premiership but the writing was on the wall.

Open political contest is a powerful democratic trait and it is commendable that the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal could hold an election in the full glare of public scrutiny. This is infinitely better than the death threats and killings that happen outside formal processes and in the dark.

The vote at the Olive Centre raised a very large middle finger to the poor — to all of us battling crumbling infrastructure, shocking schools and hospitals, and more. It will certainly mark a big step towards the party’s eventual loss of power in the province. People will only tolerate the rot for so long.

But with no mass-based party on the left, the province will face the same problems as we have seen in metros across the country. Rickety coalitions will have to be brought together — coalitions of right-wing forces.

In the 1980s, we looked forward to the future with hope. Today that is not possible until a progressive force is built that can effectively contest elections.

It used to matter to the ANC that it was seen as a leader of society. This is no longer the case in KwaZulu-Natal. The absence of ANC T-shirts on the street is a potent indicator that the inclusive ANC of the Mandela generation has been usurped by a tendency that can only see as far as its personal ambitions. DM168

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.