Zuma and Mbeki must be roped in to achieve ANC renewal and unity

The ANC in the Free State has invited former president Thabo Mbeki to address the Provincial Interim Committee on the unity of the party at a meeting that was scheduled for Thursday, 17 February. It has been reported that the last time Mbeki was in the Free State was in 2007, before the party’s 52nd national conference. 

Relations between suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule and Mbeki are not good at all, and this did not start after Polokwane. Some say Magashule was overlooked by Mbeki for years as the chairperson of the province (he was only appointed Free State premier during Zuma’s term). 

Both Zuma and Mbeki were in exile together. In 1997, at the ANC’s 50th  National Conference, the late Winnie Mandela was nominated from the floor for the position of deputy president of the ANC. She declined the position and Zuma emerged as deputy president. This started a partnership that would sour in 2005, after that famous speech in Parliament by Mbeki in which he announced that he was releasing Zuma from his duties in government. Zuma subsequently staged a comeback and the rest is history. 

Zuma’s removal deepened divisions within the party. Most party cadres had to choose between the two leaders in the build-up to the 52nd elective conference in 2007.

During the Zuma era, Mbeki did not attend any ANC gatherings. 

Then, after Zuma’s recall, we saw Mbeki being invited by the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal to give a lecture on the life of the late Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. That was in 2019. He was again invited by the ANC in KZN to speak during the 2021 local government elections campaign. Mbeki has also attended some NEC meetings since President Ramaphosa took over as leader of the party. 

Will Mbeki be able to unite the ANC in the Free State, or will we see those in the so-called RET faction pulling back because of the historical relations between Mbeki and Magashule? When one reflects on divisions in the ANC, it is clear that it is both Zuma and Mbeki who can help the party to unite. 

The ANC has never recovered from what happened at its 52nd conference. There can never be unity in the ANC if both these leaders do not make peace. Unity is a difficult process for anyone, as people have to put their differences aside, talk to each other and find lasting political solutions. 

It is surprising that no one has ever asked former ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe why he chose to be on the Zuma slate as his deputy president when he served as secretary-general in the build-up to the 52nd elective conference. 

Members of the ANC need to ask some of these difficult questions if they are serious about unity within their organisation. The ANC’s biggest problem is that all the factions point fingers at each other instead of looking at the role they have played individually to weaken the party through the years. 

Some people within the ANC move from one faction to another every 10 years for their political survival, which is one of the biggest problems. This happens when a party is led by careerists who are looking out for their own interests and not those of the party.  

If one looks at ANC politics once the president has been elected for the second term, people already start to plan for the next conference as they know the president will not return for a third term. This creates instability and division. We saw this building up to the 52nd and 54th elective conferences. 

These are the politics of posturing and they are without principle. These people check the balance of forces within the party and make sure they get closer to the candidate that is likely to win the conference. That way, they are always close to the trough. There is no regard for principles.

Some people blame Zuma for everything when they reflect on ANC challenges and State Capture, while they were in leadership with him for 10 years. What role did they play in keeping everybody together? The ANC leadership talked about collective responsibility and that collective responsibility has put the ANC where it is today. 

As the political head, Zuma was never in charge of branches –that is the role of the secretariat, i.e. Gwede Mantashe and Kgalema Motlanthe, during their era. When you have weak branches, you are bound to have a weak organisation.

There is what we call the bottom-to-top approach and the top-to-bottom approach. Currently, the top-to-bottom approach is the order of the day, which means members at a branch level are told who to support in the build-up to ANC conferences at all levels of the organisation, from regional to national. That is why you find money is used to buy votes. 

Those who are close to power collect money and make sure they shepherd delegates to conference until they have cast their ballot in their favour. DM