It’s crunch time for the African National
Congress(ANC). This weekend 4,500 delegates will gather in Mangaung in South
Africa’s heartland to take decisions that will have a major impact on the
country over the next seven years.
Many South Africans both inside and outside the ANC
believe that it faces a crisis in leadership. President Zuma has been mired in
controversy to an extent that it is difficult to justify his re-election. It is
hard for many South Africans to consider another five year term for the
incumbent. North America experienced a similar moment when President George
Bush junior was re-elected to office a second time. Half of the United States
could not believe that they had to endure a second term of a man who brought
the country very little respect.
As in the United States, the reality is that more
than half of all South Africans support a second term for Zuma. There are those
who believe that he is the person most likely to change their circumstances and
he has shown himself to be a leader who expresses the needs of many of the
rural poor.
This, however, will not be the key factor guiding
discussion this weekend.
Two camps have emerged, each with its own set of
interests. One camp is led by President Zuma and the other by his deputy,
Kgalema Motlanthe.
A few months ago, one could have described these
camps as broadly divided along class lines with Zuma representing working class
interests and Motlanthe standing for busines interests. Some of South Africa’s
wealthy politicians like Tokyo Sexwale and Matthews Phosa were aligned with
Motlanthe. From this camp emerged some conciliatory gestures towards Julius
Malema, who has been strongly campaigning for Motlanthe, despite his expulsion
from the ANC. The union movement and the SACP felt that Zuma had kept his word
on a number of issues including HIV/Aids and a commitment to the creation of
decent jobs. They decided for practical reasons to throw their lot in with him.
What we are facing now is a different scenario. My
sense is that the Zuma camp has out-witted the Motlanthe camp. Zuma goes into
conference with the highest percentage of pre-conference delegate support. In
2007, at the last ANC conference in Polokwane, the indications were the same
despite the fact that the Mbeki camp remained convinced that they would win.
The trump card of the Zuma camp is his choice of
deputy for the next term. Cyril Ramaphosa will bring a great deal of experience
and sophistication to the presidency and will allow Zuma to largely step back.
It was never Zuma’s intention to stand this time around. He made that clear
shortly after his election at Polokwane. Those around him, however, convinced
him that he should stand for the sake of continuity and to stop the ANC tearing
itself apart. The agreement is that he will give most of his attention to
sorting out the substantial weaknesses in the ANC while Cyril Ramaphosa will take
over the daily running of the country.
It will be very similar to what happened when
Mandela was president. Mandela was largely the ceremonial head while Mbeki
beavered away at the coal-face. There will be a difference now in that Zuma
will be there to assure the rural poor, black business and much of the ANC
membership while Ramaphosa will no doubt be an important liaison between labour
and business. A deal like this can only be positive for the country.
Marikana does, however, loom over him. He has lost
respect among a section of South Africans and he will have to do whatever he
can to restore this in the 14 months before the 2014 elections. If he does
this, he will be the perfect bridge, bringing together those ANC politicos who
have essentially withdrawn from the national platform and those who presently
occupy it. The loser will be Kgalema Motlanthe. He unfortunately has played his
cards badly and has come across as a vacillator at a time when strong leadership
was required.
The Zuma/Ramaphosa deal will come into effect at a
time when young people across the country have indicated that they are positive
about the future of South Africa (see Reconciliation Barometer) but want a
party that brings confidence and respectability.
There is, however, the possibility that the contest
between the two camps will be hard-fought. If neither camp definitively asserts
itself, it could lead to paralysis within the party with one group always
having to battle it out with another. The stakes are high.
But all indications are that the ANC in its 100th
year will once again display the art of clever compromise that has often been
its saving grace over the past century. This will buy it a little time to get
itself onto a better footing but will not reduce the enormous challenges facing
the country.
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NEWS FLASH: THE Constitutional Court today
declared the Free State African National Congress (ANC) provincial elective
conference unlawful and its contents and decisions invalid, two days ahead of
the start of the party’s elective conference in Mangaung
Reasons
for the judgement are expected on December 18, in the middle of the conference.
The
executive committee committee that was elected at the Parys Conference on June
21 to 23 this year will now be invalid.
This
will mean that the provincial nomination conference held after Parys and its
decisions, including the one to nominate the slate featuring President Jacob
Zuma is now invalid.
Opinion
is divided about whether or not Free State delegates will be allowed to attend
the conference. One view says the conference is a gathering of elected branch
members and not provinces in terms of the ANC’s constitution so delegates are
freee to come. Another view is that the court decision means that the entire
process in the Free State was invalid. The NEC meets tomorrow to discuss the
matter.
