The ANC’s traditional leftwing tussles with a `pragmatist’ camp for the soul of the party. Paul Stober reports
The African National Congress’ parliamentary caucus has become the front line of a battle between the organisation’s “socialist” and “pragmatic” camps.
According to ANC parliamentary sources, the battle is about the future direction of the ANC. This revolves around the question as to whether the organisation and its parliamentarians will be watchdogs keeping a check on government, or whether it will become a tool of government to be used to sell state policy to ANC supporters.
Beneath this, a subtle ideological struggle is also being waged between the ANC’s traditional left, who accuse the ANC leadership in government of abandoning the organisation’s commitment to far- reaching social and economic reconstruction, and some ANC members in government who want the state to follow more “pragmatic” economic and social policies.
ANC sources say the “pragmatists” are based mainly in the cabinet and are accused of sacrificing ANC interests in order to cut deals with other political parties and big business, to secure a broad-based political centre that can oversee a successful transition. They are said to include Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, Defence Minister Joe Modise, Foreign Affairs Minister Alfred Nzo, Trade and IndustryMinister Trevor Manuel and PWV Premier Tokyo Sexwale.
They are opposed in the parliamentary caucus by those who want ANC cabinet ministers to promote the organisation’s policies and radically restructure government and public service. These include trade unionists put on the ANC’s election list by Cosatu and by ANC political education head Raymond Suttner and SACP rising star Blade Nzimande.
Minister without portfolio Jay Naidoo, who is overseeing the Reconstruction and Development Programme from the president’s office, is believed to lean towards this camp. Although Naidoo’s portfolio makes him politically powerful, he is unable to make waves because many aspects of the RDP fall under the control of other ministries, which have to carry out the programme.
SACP stalwart and housing minister Joe Slovo is said to have opted to stay out of the fight. His health is poor and he wants to focus on his portfolio.
It is not clear where public service and administration minister Zola Skweyiya stands in relation to the ideological battle. What is known, however, is that Skweyiya is a powerful figure who has the ear of President Nelson Mandela.
There have been a number of skirmishes between the camps over relatively minor issues in the caucus. But at the last caucus meeting the parliamentarians made a significant gain when ANC cabinet ministers agreed to form an ANC cabinet caucus to pursue the organisation’s policies in government.
The ANC’s national working committee and cabinet ministers met earlier this week to discuss the relationship between the ANC and government.
The battle between the two camps will most likely come to a head at the ANC’s next national congress, tentatively set for December. The traditional left is pushing for a clear break between cabinet and the ANC leadership, and jockeying for positions on the organisation’s national working committee has already begun.
The SACP mainstream and Cosatu appear to be lining up behind ANC secretary-general Cyril Ramaphosa, who is tipped as a strong contender for the post of ANC president when Mandela retires.
Although Cosatu _ and to a lesser extent the SACP _ have been casting around for political direction since many of their leading intellectuals were elected to government, Ramaphosa still has grassroots support among ANC and Cosatu activists. He is seen as having the skill to build the ANC into a strong mass organisation which will continue to function independently of government.
The ANC also has other influential leaders outside parliament, including leading SACP intellectual Jeremy Cronin and the ANC’s RDP head, Cheryl Carolus. Cosatu and SACP activists and leaders are engaged in a furious debate about how best to revive their organisations.
The battle is likely to become increasingly heated in the run-up to the congress. Both sides know there will be nothing bigger than the ANC in South African politics for the next ten years, and the future policies of the government will be decided by those who control the organisation.