Tough questions keep pair on toes

[caption id="attachment_71615" align="alignright" width="286"] SELLOUT LABEL: Sam Beynon[/caption]

Dialogue audience takes long, hard look at ANC

RAMPANT corruption crippling the government, corruption levels preand post-democracy, the moral decay of the ANC, the “sellout” label for those who question the direction the ruling party is taking, and whether it is time for a new political party to govern.

These were some of the issues that The Texture of Shadows author Mandla Langa and former National Prosecuting Authority boss Vusi Pikoli were bombarded with at The Herald Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University community dialogue last night.

Politicians, students and residents who filled the North Campus auditorium kept the pair on their toes with robust discussions and difficult questions that saw the speakers at times passing the buck to the other.

Sam Beynon asked how one could overcome being labelled a sellout when speaking out against wrongdoing.

“There is this idea among comrades, particularly young comrades, that we must fix the current ANC. I want to understand from leaders who have come before us, how this is possible [if] when you criticise inside the party or inside the ranks or branch, whatever level it is, you are referred to as a sellout within your own space?

“The ANC that I knew had room for open engagement, dialogue, internal criticism and so on. But today we see people who are reprimanded when they raise issues or questions around corruption, mismanagement, lack of leadership, etc. They are referred to as sellouts,” Beynon said.

-Mkhululi Ndamase