Polokwane — Charlayne Hunter-Gault continues her reflection from the floor of the ANC conference in Polokwane, in South Africa's northern Limpopo province.
The reaction of many - if not the majority - inside the packed hall at the conclusion of Thabo Mbeki's speech of some 2-1/2 hours was to sing "Awulethu Mshini Wami" - in Zulu, "Bring me my machine gun"- the theme song of J Zed.
This kind of disrespect would never have happened in the previous two ANC conferences I attended. On the other hand, Mbeki insiders later told me that they thought they were narrowing the big J Zed lead and that they might still lose, but they don't want to lose ignominiously, which would mean losing a strong voice inside the Party.
Speaking now is Kgalema Motlanthe, the secretary-general of the party and a potential president, in the event that J Zed wins and is later indicted for corruption. Motlanthe is delivering a long, tough speech, critical of those who are contributing to the notion, if not the reality, of "two ANC's."
He has been critical of members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) involved in pressuring members on whom to vote for and has strongly criticized other pressure tactics and behaviour attributed to some party members. Both the Mbeki side and the Zuma side have each accused the other of such tactics, including charges that bribes were being paid and government positions offered.
Motlanthe criticized "factionalist" activities, aimed at securing election to the leadership of the movement of one chosen group over another, saying branches have been treated as "voting fodder" in which nominations and other key decisions are taken without the benefit of any serious prior political discussion.
He went on to refer to "infringements of the [NEC's election] guidelines" in which "there have been references to the possibility of money, some intimidation and promises of government positions being thrown into the electoral pot...
"What this means is that, quite clearly, this NEC has failed to resolve the divisive issues that have plagued the movement in the past few years..." He went on to ask: "When money changes hands in the battle for personal power and aggrandizement, where is the movement that is built around a membership that joins without motives or material advantage and personal gain...?
"When the members of the NEC themselves engage in factionalist activity, media leaks and rumour-mongering, how can we expect the membership of our movement to carry out their duties to observe discipline, behave honestly and carry out loyally the decision of the majority and the decision of higher bodies?"
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Clearly the leadership is worried, and some veteran observers are calling this a "watershed" in the history of the ANC. Airing their dirty linen in public is a new development in the history of the ANC. Some say it's an awful development; others say it's the ANC normalizing, a liberation movement coming of age.
I remember, in 1994, F.W. De Klerk, responding to my question about how it was going to feel being out of power after so long, saying that his party would only be out of power for five years before the voters returned them. His reasoning: A liberation movement would not be capable of governing.
Well, De Klerk was wrong... But, clearly, these past 12 years have seen a gradual maturing of the ANC, and even this fractiousness (or intense debate) could be seen as evidence of that. "When we were not confident, we were in the laager," one ANC member told me just outside the door where Motlanthe continued his tough talk.
On another note:
Almost as if to underscore the "two ANC's"— when Mbeki criticized careerism and improper activities, it was the Eastern Cape, one of the four provinces that supported him for president, applauded. When Motlanthe uttered similar criticisms, it was primarily the JZ supporters who applauded.
