Cyril Madlala
19 December 2007
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Polokwane — Cyril Madlala , editor of KwaZulu-Natal's UmAfrika newspaper, hopes that the new ANC president with a warm heart and time to listen has learned lessons from his predecessor's fate. To comment, click on the box at top right [free sign-up].
The overwhelming rejection of Thabo Mbeki as president of the ANC by delegates to the ANC's 52nd national conference in Polokwane goes some way to indicate that either he employs useless advisers or he ignores their wise counsel.
How else does one explain how he failed so dismally to gauge the mood of anger against his determination to hang on to power for a third term? More importantly, how could he not have been aware that support for his deputy, Jacob Zuma, among ordinary ANC members was across the country and not confined to KwaZulu-Natal, Zuma's home base?
When the ANC branches announced their preferences for leadership positions towards the end of last month, and nominated delegates to represent them at the national conference, it should have been clear to Mbeki that he was not as informed as he ought to have been about state of the organisation he leads.
Indeed, in subsequent interviews he and those close to him seemed to suggest that his future as leader of the ANC could still be salvaged at the conference. And so began an intensive anti-Zuma campaign by senior government officials, including Terror Lekota, the ANC national chairman.
By the time we got to Polokwane, the tide of anger against Mbeki had also engulfed those perceived to be anti-Zuma, such as Lekota. It did not help that Mbeki's defenders were drawn mainly from the Cabinet, and were seen to be trying to secure their future job prospects.
It became a battle between the elite, educated and sophisticated class in the membership of the ANC, and the poor in the squatter camps and factories who demanded change and fresh blood in the leadership.
When the nominations suggested that there was unhappiness about Mbeki's style of leadership, so blind was he to this reality that he came to the national conference oozing the arrogance that was complained of: those who found fault with him lacked political education; they were not schooled in the traditions of the organisation; it would be better to get rid of them, he proposed during his two-hour long political report.
When he challenged the conference to answer the question, "What divides the ANC?" a delegate shouted back: "You."
When he asked, "What should we do to address this challenge?" somebody responded loudly: "Step down."
Of course, he could not have brought himself to heed such advice from the grassroots, the branch representatives who constitute the very body of the organisation in whose best interests he purported to act. Treated with such disdain, they were determined to drive an important message to the leadership: you owe your position in government to us, and you should be accountable to us, stupid as you deem us to be.
And so Zuma, a humble and uneducated man with a warm heart and all the time in the world to listen to the concerns of ordinary members, has trounced Mbeki convincingly.
He lacks the sophistication of his predecessor, but he is accessible, too accessible perhaps. That should at least ensure that he and his new team are not as aloof as Mbeki and his team were. It should also mean that they should know when it is time to say goodbye, before they are humiliated as Mbeki has been.
That is unless Zuma too either surrounds himself with useless advisers, or good advisers whose wise counsel he disregards.
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As Zimbabweans, we also celebrate change of leadership in the ANC. Unfortunately for us back home, we have not reached a level of democracy were Party Office bearers are voted into Office. We see a scenario in Zimbabwe were Office Bearers are simply endorsed without election. Just looking at the events of last week, Robert Mugabe was endorsed Presidential candidate for ZANU PF without an election. No room is left for people to express their views freely in the ballot box without the watchful eyes of men in dark glasses. We thus pray the new ANC leadership will take time to look at us as their neighbours and try to assist. The ANC must understand that their neighbours are the people of Zimbabwe not ZANU PF. As the ANC looks at our situation at home, it must look at the people, and scrutinise what the people are going through. We also call upon the ANC not to rush to endorse our national elections free and fair, and leave us voters surprised. We call upon the leadership to fairly and in an unbiased manner try to assist the Zimbabwean populace. As Zimbabweans we are not saying the ANC or other people can control our destiny. The idea is our house is on fire and we are failling to put out the fire. Can our neighbours help us out. As a remindeer, we call upon the ANC to establish friendship with the people of Zimbabwe. African solidarity and brotherhood which is counter productive has no room in the modern world. As Africans let's move ahead in our view of politics and watch the new world order. Let this political preaching, that behaves like Ian Smith will wake up from his grave and declare UDI come to an end. It seems like some of the circles in our political arena are not moving forward and watching new developments in World Order and World politics.