Phathekile Holomisa
25 November 2008
opinion
Johannesburg — MY LATE uncle and mentor, DDP Ndamase, once admonished me for expressing glee at having been proved correct on something we'd disagreed on.
The expression "I told you so" was not virtuous and did little to change the situation, he said. In the current circumstances, I believe that he would excuse me for such a lack of virtuousness.
When it became clear that Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma were intent on running for the presidency of the African National Congress (ANC) last December, we in the Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA (Contralesa) were concerned that their conduct, as well as that of their respective supporters, would harm and divide the ANC.
We conveyed these concerns to the two men and suggested they consider a compromise that would allow for a smooth leadership transition. The suggestion was politely rebuffed by both men, who told us that the tradition of the ANC was to allow members to freely choose their leaders. Clearly, each was confident he would win.
There were two lists of candidates for election to the national executive committee -- one for Mbeki loyalists and another for Zuma loyalists. Very few made it on to both lists. This obviously spelt doom for those on the list of the losing candidate; they would be out in the cold, with their political fortunes dependant on the magnanimity of the victors. This was not a desirable outcome, regardless of what liberal democracy demands. It was incumbent upon both Mbeki and Zuma to give leadership of a nature that would avoid a winner-takes-all situation by convincing their supporters beforehand to be inclusive in their lists. In this regard, they failed both the ANC and the nation. This country needs the leadership attributes of the candidates on both lists.
The ANC is now bleeding and divided. A splinter group led by those who were on Mbeki's list is coalescing into a new political party, the Congress of the People (COPE). Its potential source of membership is the ANC's support base. I have tried hard to understand why national leaders of the ANC would go out of their way to do things bound to further divide and harm such a noble organisation. I have listened to statements by Mosiuoa Lekota, Mluleki George and Mbhazima Shilowa, as well as their followers. I have read statements by commentators and supporters of COPE, justifying the attempt to destroy the ANC. I come out convinced that the only reason is their failure to win the leadership elections in Polokwane. Such an assertion, while not original, is nonetheless true. They have themselves said that their goal is to achieve what they lost in Polokwane by winning political power in next year's elections.
As a politician, I quite understand that the Polokwane losers may have run the risk of losing their source of income when they ceased to be leaders of the stature they were. This is the only job at which they may be good.
The people for whom I sympathise are those for whom I crave a strong and united ANC -- the followers who have no axe to grind with the Polokwane victors. COPE followers cite conduct that may or may not be attributed solely to the current ANC leadership as cause for their desire to leave, including the apparently vengeful removal from office of certain premiers, mayors and Mbeki, as well as the rude and disrespectful demeanour of ANC Youth League president Julius Malema.
But I remain unconvinced that they are a basis for the abandonment of the ANC. The removal of public office bearers is a common feature of modern democracy. It happened in the days of Nelson Mandela. It intensified in the era of Mbeki, who had the power to appoint premiers and mayors without having to take into consideration the acceptability of the appointee to those whom they would serve. The new ANC leadership does, at least, try to give reasons for its appointments, which seem to be preceded by discussions in the relevant party structures.
The constitutions of the ANC and the country permit the removal of a president under prescribed circumstances. It happened with Zuma, while he was deputy president of SA , and it happened with cabinet ministers and provincial MECs sacked mid-term. None left the ANC. On the contrary, when Zuma's supporters could not accept his fate, they claimed their right as members of the ANC to correct what they deemed to be wrong by agitating for the convening of a decision making body, the national general council. As far as I know, all Lekota did was send an open letter to the ANC secretary-general.
Without a doubt, the great majority of South Africans were not in support of the call for Mbeki's removal from office. Zuma publicly declared the futility of such a call.
Such is the nature of political democracy that a mandated structure of the ruling party decided in the manner it did, leaving it to the citizenry to debate the decision's legitimacy while accepting its legality.
As for Malema's demeanour, it cannot be grounds for dividing the ANC and SA. In a normal society, he would have long been ignored. Even if he can predict what the ANC will decide in any given situation, surely that does not mean the decision makers take decisions purely on account of Malema having announced his wishes beforehand.
Coming back to the followers of COPE -- they are being hoodwinked. COPE's leaders and financial backers are disgruntled about losing their positions of power and influence and, thus , their prospects of making more political and financial gain. Their followers complain of a lack of jobs, a lack of service delivery, rising cost of living and high levels of crime. Poor traditional leaders and rural communities are suddenly, as is usually the case before elections, given royal attention under the pretext that, as important leaders of the nation, their subjects find it imperative to inform them of their plans. Had they been genuine, the conveners should have sought their counsel long before even calling the press conference announcing the national convention. I am told that they are even recruiting some Contralesa members to form an organisation of traditional leaders to constitute their royal wing. If this is true, where is their commitment to unity, considering how fractious the institution is by its very nature?
The societal ills that are the concern of COPE's followers have been with us for the past 10 years and longer. They cannot be placed at the door exclusively of the current ANC leadership. If anything, the people to answer are those who were ousted in Polokwane, for they were in charge of both the ANC and the government at the time. The post-Polokwane leadership is not yet quite in power. President Kgalema Motlanthe and his cabinet ministers and deputies are in office by default. They ought to be given a chance to be tested by the extent to which they implement the Polokwane resolutions.
The provision of infrastructure, rural development and agrarian reform will be the yardstick by which the new government will be judged. It is unfair to condemned them for the sins of their predecessors.
All of that notwithstanding, it is not too late for the ANC and COPE leadership to place the interests of the people above their own and talk of reconciliation. The oppressed are their common constituency. They must show leadership and not act like the two birds fighting over a worm, each claiming to be entitled because one said it saw it first, while the other said it caught it first. While they were bickering, the execution bird came along and picked up the worm to enjoy it alone by itself. Let me not be proved correct again -- it isn't nice.
Holomisa is president of Contralesa and an ANC MP.
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