Sechaba kaNkosi
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) heavyweights met their counterparts in the African National Congress this week to discuss the nomination of their general secretary, Kgalema Motlanthe, for the post of ANC secretary general, the most powerful political position in the country outside Parliament.
Until now, most political and labour analysts have viewed Motlanthe as a closed book. But his nomination to succeed Cheryl Carolus as ANC secretary general, supported by most ANC provincial structures and its youth league, has them all wondering what lies beyond the cover.
There is no other serious challenger for the position. The ANC Womens League has found no candidates from within its ranks. The leagues meeting with the ANC this week confirmed that Motlanthe enjoys the support of its senior leadership.
One of Motlanthes strengths is that while he is not new to ANC politics, he is not associated with any factions within the party. Before he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for terrorism in April 1976, he worked in the ANC underground, first specialising in the recruitment of aspirant cadres for military training and then setting up sabotage units inside South Africa.
It was during his incarceration on Robben Island that he developed his political understanding and interest in the labour movement.
When the ANC was unbanned in 1990, Motlanthe became its first chair in the then PWV region (now Gauteng), which made him an ex-officio member of its national executive committee. It is here that he impressed others as a pragmatist and a strategist.
Motlanthes possible election as ANC secretary general comes at a time of deteriorating relations with its allies in the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) over its growth, employment and redistribution (Gear) strategy.
Cosatu is likely to approve of his nomination because it believes his understanding of the labour movement will bring the ANC closer to its ideology. The SACP is also likely to back him as he is a member of its central executive committee.
But he is also an attractive candidate because, unlike most union leaders and his colleagues in the SACP, Motlanthe has never publicly opposed Gear.
Motlanthes detractors say he lacks charisma. They say he has never been fully tested in the union movement. In the ANC, they argue, he is likely to come up against strong resistance from many directions, which could frustrate him.
But Steve Friedman of the Centre for Policy Studies says that is exactly where Motlanthes hidden strengths lie. He says Motlanthes personality suggests he is not over-ambitious. No one in the ANCs leadership would feel threatened by him if he became secretary general.
Although the Chamber of Mines has refused to comment officially on his possible departure from the NUM, insiders were quick to defend Motlanthe against accusations that he contributed to the current crisis in the mining industry. One of the chambers key negotiators points to the two year-agreement signed between them and the union as a proof of Motlanthes quick thinking.
Where in South Africa have you ever heard of productivity-linked wage increases? asked the negotiator, adding that his loss to the union movement would be a disaster for industrial relations in the country. He is one of a few Cosatu leaders who could encourage his colleagues to think rationally.
Motlanthe joined NUM as an education instructor after his release from prison in 1987. He rose to the position of national co-ordinator of the unions education desk and in 1992 he became general secretary after Cyril Rama-phosa was named ANC secretary general.
The NUM twice refused to release him to stand against Sam Shilowa for the post of Cosatu general secretary, but has finally relented and released him to the ANC.