I had to stifle a laugh while reading Adriaan Basson's latest missive to the News24 readership.

Trevor Manuel challenged his comrades in the ANC to "restore who we are, not what we've become".

As if the ANC was once a good church that just somehow went bad. 

Let's time travel back to "who they are, not what they have become". An insider's account. Yes, dear reader let's examine Tricky Trevor's statement.

Let's read from Andrew Feinstein's book After the Party, an account about the ANC government's arms deal.

Andrew is having lunch with Trevor.

'Towards the end of the meal came his real point: "We all know JM [as Joe Modise was known]. It's possible that there was some shit in the deal. But if there was, no one will ever uncover it. They're not that stupid. Just let it lie. Focus on the technical stuff, which was sound."

'I responded that there were even problems with the technical aspects, and warned that if we didn't get to the bottom of the deal now it would come back to haunt us - a view I expressed over and over again within the ANC.'

'Just let it lie' has always been the attitude of the ANC and that dear reader is why South Africa is in the situation it is.

Trevor's 'just let it lie' attitude has brought South Africa to this point and no doubt Vernie Petersen received the same sage advice from Tricky Trevor. It's appalling that Trevor couldn't even stand up and rather apologise to Petersen's family and South Africa.

If Tricky Trevor's 'timely challenge' was sincere he would have started with the fact that the arms deal funded the ANC's 1999 election campaign in his submission to the Zondo commission not the fact that the 'Minister of Twitter' is a cry baby.

But what is most laughable is that the media is allowing statements like Tricky Trevor's "restore who we are, not what we've become" to mislead readers into thinking the ANC can change. The ANC's 'New Dawn' was there for all to see just last week, when the ANC once again slowed down the progress of IPID for the Minister of Police who was previously fired for corruption. 

Don't be fooled, dear reader. Don't 'just let it lie'. You need to read News24 articles and apply some critical thought before simply adopting the misleading narrative presented to you.