Fikile Mbalula and David Makhura to lead ANC talks, with Joel Netshitenzhe likely a key wingman.

On Monday morning at Luthuli House in Johannesburg, the ANC started its most important round of talks about talks since 1994. For the first time since it began speaking to the apartheid regime in the early 1990s, the ANC is considering power-sharing options.

This time because it has lost an election; that time because it was about to fight and later win its first democratic election.

The party has been gracious in defeat and smart in negotiation preparations.

Various lobbies have engaged intellectuals to draft papers weighing up the various options for the party. Daily Maverick has seen two and the rigour of each is impressive.

The speed at which these papers have been produced shows how seriously the ANC takes these talks.

What is common to both documents is that the ANC is concerned about the results of the election and about the message delivered by its supporters. It wants to win trust and power back.

That it is doing so in a way that is academic and rigorous suggests a return to the ANC of old - it was historically a party of professionals, religious leaders and academics, but in the past decade or so, that has been...