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Johannesburg - Stop comparing President Jacob Zuma's ANC to the party under former presidents Nelson Mandela and Oliver Reginald Tambo, ANC North West chairperson Supra Mahumapelo said
"Oliver Tambo knew nothing about governance, there was no PFMA [Public Finance Management Act], there was no Public Protector, no Constitution to abide by," Mahumapelo said in an interview with News24.
Tambo, the ANC's longest serving president, served as head of the party from 1967 until 1991 when Mandela took over upon his release from prison leading negotiated talks that led to a democratic SA.
Mahumapelo said it was unfair on the current leaders to be compared to past leaders.
"You can't compare the presidency under Nelson Mandela, where the country was going through reconciliation and nation building," he said.
"You just can't compare apples with bananas, it's unfair."
Mahumapelo called for the ANC to be judged on its current state as opposed to through a historical context.
He however admitted that he was worried that the ANC was plagued by an "onslaught from imperial enemies seeking to control not only South Africa, but minerals across the African continent".
'Some say things that do not seek to build'
In what can be seen as a veiled attack against party stalwarts and former senior Umkhonto weSizwe members publicly calling for Zuma to step down and for a consultative conference to kick off organisational renewal, Mahumapelo said: "Some political leaders had become excited at finding themselves in front of journalists and made statements to further divide the ANC".
"Some say things that do not seek to build, say things that destroy when we see cameras," he said.
He also criticised the media for failing to be "more constructive in efforts to build society".
"I am not saying wrong things should not be reported," he added.
Mahumapelo denied that he harboured ambitions for a top post in the political party when it goes for its 54th elective conference in December 2017, telling News24 that all he wanted was a more unified ANC.
He wished rather for a non-contested top 6. He said dialogue needed to take place so that the party's leaders are simply announced at the conference.
"Contestation fractures the organisation," he said.
"What we are working and yearning for is unity of purpose in the organisation."
Mahumapelo said he will back calls by the ANC Women's League for a woman president if the leader unites the ANC and the country.
He is widely seen as part of the so-called "premier league" lobbying for Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to take over from Zuma.
He said the party needed to look beyond its upcoming elective conference, which he hoped would emerge with a leadership collective that would be able to work towards the 2019 general elections.
The ANC has just emerged from bruising local government elections that saw the party lose three metros previously under its control.
"The mood would be different, there would be positivity, there'll be unity, cohesion and we will perform better in 2019 and intensify the struggle."
Mahumapelo said the end goals remained returning land to its rightful owners and changing the economic patterns in South Africa.
