Karima Brown
28 October 2008
Johannesburg — THE African National Congress (ANC) yesterday put former president Thabo Mbeki on the spot, putting his loyalty to the test by saying it expected him to "lobby quietly" for the ANC ahead of general elections.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said that former presidents Nelson Mandela and Mbeki would be required to do so, as "disciplined cadres of the ANC".
" There is no expectation (from) the ANC that they will play a prominent role as they did when they were presidents, but we expect them to talk to whomever they come across, lobby people quietly."
In his resignation address to the nation, Mbeki stressed his loyalty to the ANC, saying he had devoted his life to the party since the age of 14.
Mandela's office has already indicated that he intends playing no part in the ANC's election efforts, due to his age.
Mantashe's comments come on the eve of the formation of a breakaway party driven by Mbeki loyalists and former members of his cabinet. Former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota and his former deputy , Mluleki George, are diehard Mbeki backers, who have taken issue with what they term the ANC's cavalier attitude towards Mbeki .
"We had to hear on radio Metro during an interview with Julius Malema that the ANC wanted comrade Thabo to be involved in the election campaign. That was unacceptable," a key Mbeki loyalist said .
The loyalist was referring to a recent interview in which ANC Youth League leader Malema said Mbeki was welcome to campaign for the ANC as a former party president.
In the build-up to this weekend's national convention, seen by observers as a curtain-raiser for a breakaway, supporters have attended Lekota's powwows decked out in T-shirts emblazoned with Mbeki's picture.
Mbeki has yet to say whether he will be going on the campaign trail for the ANC after it axed him from office last month . Aides said he would not join the new party .
However, others point to associates such as former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa and former ANC spokesman Smuts Ngonyama's links with the breakaway and said it suggested Mbeki's tacit approval.
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