The ANC, which rules one of Africa’s strongest democracies, is taking politics lessons from China, which is among the least democratic governments in the world.
The party is going on a field trip to a political school built and run by the Chinese government.
The school, which is based in Tanzania, is seen as one of the tools of China’s long-term strategy to influence African countries.
It is not unusual for the school to be addressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping who promised former African liberation movements “Great Changes Unseen in a Century” in a 2002 letter.
In his letter, Xi said there was an “urgent need for China and African countries to strengthen solidarity, common development, and exchange of Chinese experience and mutual understanding in governance”.
The ANC delegation’s trip to Tanzania, which began on Tuesday and ends on Thursday, comes as the party prepares to face its toughest election since the 1994 polls later this year.
ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula said the delegation to the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School in Kibaha, Tanzania, will include first deputy secretary Nomvula Mokonyane, former Gauteng premier David Makhura, now the head of the ANC’s OR Tambo Political School, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s former spokesperson Khusela Diko, and ANC national executive committee member Nobuhle Nkabane.
“Since its establishment in 2022, the leadership school has delivered tailored online and face-to-face training sessions and cadre workshops to 1,405 participants and concluded memoranda of understanding for strategic alliances and partnerships with various international institutions,” Mbalula said.
The school is a joint project of the Chinese Communist Party and six ruling Southern African liberation movements: the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique, the South West African People’s Organisation of Namibia, Tanzania’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi, the ANC, and Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF.
The ANC’s political posture has been changing over the years, with the party developing stronger ties with Russia, Cuba and China.
At home, the deployment of police at ANC and government events — seen by some observers as a shift to increasing authoritarianism – has increased significantly while the president and deputy president often travel in VIP convoys of seven cars.
The police now spend R3-billion a year on VIP protection for mayors, ministers and other dignitaries.
The Chinese government is helping Eskom and Zimbabwe’s Hwange Thermal power station to manage blackouts in their respective countries.
China has also held military exercises with South Africa and other African countries and has funded numerous infrastructure programmes across the continent.
Pictured above: Fikile Mbalula.
Image source: X
