The ANC’s leader-in-waiting this week walked confidently into the full glare of the spotlight, writes Makhosini Nkosi
African National Congress president Thabo Mbeki is just about the only politician in the country who is guaranteed a government position after the second democratic election in June. With all opinion surveys predicting the ANC taking a big chunk of the election spoils, Mbeki could be forgiven for being complacent.
But the man who is destined to be the most powerful leader in southern Africa is literally sweating his way to the presidency. Mbeki has put up a strong and intensive campaign which, insiders say, has left him with no time even to read his recently released unofficial biography.
Following Mbeki on his campaign trail on Freedom Day – in Phokeng, near Rustenburg in the North-West province – proved to be a difficult task for most party and government officials. His zeal and abundant stamina amazed many of them.
With the scorching African sun drenching him in his own perspiration, Mbeki spent a gruelling 10 hours on the road from one venue to the other – without any lunch or tea break – urging the locals to ensure a decisive ANC victory in the election.
“We inherited disaster from the National Party government. They can’t govern. They ruined this country. There are also some newcomers who will come and tell you that they love freedom. They will ask you to vote for them. Don’t chase them away, just tell them that you don’t know them,” Mbeki said to hundreds of workers at a local mine hostel.
No longer the reserved intellectual, Mbeki is beginning to look like what the elite presidential protection unit of the police dread the most: an “uncontrollable” VIP who exposes himself to security risks. The Mbeki who before kept the public spotlight at bay now jumps at the first opportunity to give autographs and shake hands.
At the hostel grounds, he went past a wall of uniformed police officers and bodyguards to greet the multitudes of workers who had complained of not seeing him on the makeshift stage – probably due to his height.
ANC representative Thabo Masebe says Mbeki is playing his role as ANC leader. “Before he had to play a different role, giving support to [the then ANC president] Nelson Mandela.”
Throughout his visit, Mbeki was mobbed by jubilant supporters waving ANC flags, all vying for an opportunity to touch the hand of the man who will be president. “He touched my hand. I’m so happy. He is down- to-earth,” enthused one old woman.
Thousands of supporters gathered for more than four hours before Mbeki’s arrival at the local civic centre. The hall was full to its 3 000 capacity, and there were many more people outside, following the proceedings through speakers.
For the entire visit, Mbeki delivered his speeches off the cuff, without a piece of paper in sight. In a clear attempt to please everybody in the audience, the speeches were delivered in isiXhosa, English and a rather Mind Your Language type of laughter-provoking rendition in seTswana. In all three, he seems to have mastered the art of combining election rhetoric with anecdotes of reason.
Mbeki told residents of Phokeng that the next five years after the election – with himself at the helm – would see accelerated government delivery. He said a foundation had been laid in the first five years of democratic government
He punted the government’s successes, saying the lives of people in previously disadvantaged communities had experienced unprecedented improvement during the past five years of ANC-led government rule.
During a tour of Phokeng, Mbeki made it clear that gloves were off against opposition parties. The New National Party, the Democratic Party and Louis Luyt’s Federal Alliance were accused of trying to “sabotage” the election with litigation against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
He reminded the audience that the United Democratic Movement’s vice-president, Roelf Meyer, had been a deputy defence minister under the apartheid government.
The only major party not attacked was the Inkatha Freedom Party, nor did he mention its leader, Mangosuthu Buthelezi. The omission was notable. Last year Mbeki invited the IFP and Buthelezi to “come back home to the ANC”, fuelling speculation that Buthelezi would be offered a senior government position after the election.
Mbeki called for the 41 opposition parties contesting the June election – “They are all singing one song in a bad tune” – to merge and form one party.
And in what seemed to be a personal denounciation of former IEC chair Judge Johan Kriegler, Mbeki said it was strange that opposition parties were accusing the IEC of being an ANC formation. “How could a person like Judge Kriegler,” he asked, “be a formation of the ANC?”
During his visit, Mbeki also told more than 200 hundred traditional leaders at the Bafokeng Civic Centre that his dream was that they would all quit politics and represent all their subjects in their entirety.
However, he conceded that traditional leaders had been involved in the formation of the ANC, and he commended traditional leaders in the North-West for the rapport that existed between traditional leaders and elected leaders. In what was seen as a reference to the problems in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, Mbeki said other traditional leaders in other parts of the country could learn from the good working relationship between elected councillors and traditional leaders. Most traditional leaders in the area said to be ANC members and sympathisers.