SECHABA KANKOSI, Johannesuburg | Friday
PRESSURE is mounting on African National Congress leaders and, in particular, Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete to publicly withdraw claims that some senior party members are involved in a plot to overthrow President Thabo Mbeki.
Members of the partys national executive committee (NEC), Cabinet ministers and senior MPs this week joined the call, believed to have been started by the partys left-wing bloc.
ANC sources claim that some have even called for Tshwete to be reprimanded or removed from the portfolio of safety and security, arguing that he has embarrassed the government and the party.
Until midweek, both Tshwete and the party had maintained their stance on the allegations implicating three senior ANC members-turned-businessmen – Cyril Ramaphosa, Matthews Phosa and Tokyo Sexwale.
On Wednesday night, however, ANC senior representative Smuts Ngonyama admitted that the issue has damaged the reputation of the party and the country. I do believe that such statements are not adding value to our country. They are diminishing the stability and the credibility that have been our hallmark, he said.
Echoing Ngonyamas sentiments, Mbeki told the BBC Channel 4 television station on Thursday that the three should not have been named.
The interview marked the first time Mbeki had spoken out extensively on allegations to topple him from power.
He also admitted that the timing of the whole incident was bad and that it could have been better handled.
MPs are asking why Tshwete, presumably with Mbekis blessing, made a public announcement on the plot without even consulting other party leaders. It is largely believed that the matter was an internal party political dispute and not a national security risk as alleged by Tshwete.
Cabinet ministers and NEC members – including office bearers – learned of the seriousness with which the party is taking the plot allegations along with the rest of the country when Tshwete made the allegations on national TV last month.
This week party leaders used Workers Day rallies to portray a united face in public, in the face of increasing unease within the party structures. ANC allies – the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party – publicly called for the allegations to be retracted.
Said an MP: We are definitely not agreed on the approach on the matter as leadership. There is so much happening within our organisation, yet most of us are kept in the dark about it. It is just not fair.
This week the party was rocked by yet another rumour: that Tshwetes utterances were based on his vying for the position of deputy president, a rank currently held by Jacob Zuma. Tshwete promptly denied the allegation and instead directed his attack to the media and alleged agents provocateurs who want to destabilise the party.
However, his response has failed to dampen members increasing distaste for the developments. Said an MP: [Minister of Defence] Mosiuoa Lekota seems to be completely undermined by Mbekis favourites within the party. If he was recognised as ANC national chair, he should have been the one handling the matter. Yet we are still to hear what his views on the matter are.
In terms of the party hierarchy, Lekota is second in command after Mbeki and his deputy Jacob Zuma.
ANC members claim that while the allegations were ridiculous in the first place, they would have preferred a thorough briefing and a view of any evidence prior to Tshwete going public on the allegations. Indeed, Cabinet ministers and MPs are said to have privately distanced themselves from the wrangle, preferring instead to keep mum on the situation and resting the matter with Mbeki and the partys propaganda machinery.
ANC activists also claim that the way in which the matter has been handled so far has undermined internal structures of the party, suggesting divisions among leaders on the matters.
As leadership, we must come out in the open and admit that we do not agree on some issues. This is not dissension; it is democracy, said a senior ANC member.