It’s Friday and into my mailbox pops the words of another famous blogger. Herewith the words of El Presidente …

To remind all of us of what it means to be a member of the ANC, at our 2005 National General Council, I quoted the Oath contained in the ANC Constitution, to which all ANC members, who join and remain members of our movement of their free will, must subscribe. The Oath says:

“I solemnly declare that I will abide by the aims and objectives of the African National Congress as set out in the Constitution, the Freedom Charter and other duly adopted policy positions, that I am joining the organisation voluntarily and without motives of material advantage or personal gain, that I agree to respect the Constitution and the structures and to work as a loyal member of the organisation, that I will place my energies and skills at the disposal of the organisation and carry out tasks given to me, that I will work towards making the ANC an even more effective instrument of liberation in the hands of the people, and that I will defend the unity and integrity of the organisation and its principles, and combat any tendency towards disruption and factionalism.”

So I now find myself impaled on the horns of a dilemma. Surely the point at which any member of the ANC anonymously provides information to us in the media about the succession battle, that person is by definition an oath breaker, and is therefore a lying traitorous blackguard? So, why should we trust anything that person might say? If they can lie to the organisation they serve, why would they not be lying to us?

Let me call up my informant and get to the bottom of this …

Author

  • @KanthanPillay was born in 1961, Durban, South Africa; completed high school in Bangalore, India; and majored in Political Science, Princeton University. He has certificates in journalism from Boston University and from the Senior Journalist Development Programme, Niemann Foundation, Harvard University. Previous satisfied employers include Africa Aerospace and Defence; e.tv; Independent Newspapers; Princeton University; and the Center for Advanced Studies, Research, and Development in Sardinia. He is former MD of the Yired group of companies, former CEO of 99.2 Yfm -- 'GP's hottest frequency', and current group head of online for E Media Holdings. Kanthan loves his day job and doesn't know any other journalist who has hacked a Linux kernel. A collection of past writings can be found at kanthanpillay.com Tel: 083 NQABILE

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Kanthan Pillay

@KanthanPillay was born in 1961, Durban, South Africa; completed high school in Bangalore, India; and majored in Political Science, Princeton University. He has certificates in journalism from Boston University...

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