In the latest of a string of attacks, the former first lady has accused the government of not addressing the interests of the people Jaspreet Kindra South Africa’s former first lady, Winnie Madikizela- Mandela, was clinging on to her political career in the African National Congress by a thread this week following strong, thinly veiled attacks on her by the party leadership. President Thabo Mbeki and ANC secretary general Kgalema Mot- lanthe both made highly critical remarks that were clearly directed at Madikizela- Mandela, at the party’s national general council meeting in Port Elizabeth this week. Madikizela-Mandela, who is presi-dent of the ANC Women’s League, was conspicuous by her absence from the ANC gathering – although she had a relatively good excuse. She attended the amnesty hearing before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of her former bodyguard, Jerry Richardson, for the murder in January 1989 of Stompie Moeketse Seipei, a Soweto activist who was 14 years old when he died. Madikizela-Mandela was convicted of involvement in the abduction of Sepei shortly before his death, but the sentence was suspended on appeal. Recently Madikizela-Mandela seriously angered the party leadership with public criticism of the government for allegedly failing to provide treatment to people infected with HIV. In the presence of the world’s media gathered in Durban for the World Aids conference, she accused the government last week of having become an ”obedient servant to the multinational companies that con- tinue to put their profits above our people”. Her comments in Durban were the latest in a string of attacks by her on aspects of government policy and on the ruling party that have been viewed by the ANC leadership as serious disloyalty. These public statements, with her virtually complete absence from Parliament, to which she was elected as an ANC MP, are greatly increasing the pressure on the leadership to act decisively against her. Senior party sources said, however, that it was still possible she could survive. One described the feisty Madikizela-Mandela, who commands apparently widespread support among some township residents, as a ”hot potato” the leadership would have difficulty in neutralising. Among the sharper comments directed against Madikizela-Mandela at the national general council, according to senior party sources, was one in a section of Mbeki’s opening address to the ANC gathering in Port Elizabeth calling for diligence, honesty and loyalty among party members. Mbeki said: ”We all know that there are even some in our ranks [who are] opponents of the movement working within the movement, who … make the same claims as those made by our opponents, that as a movement we are not doing anything to address the interests of the people. These are people who seek to gain cheap popularity for themselves for whatever reason, and underestimate the intelligence of the masses of the people.” Mbeki also called for close examination of the ”functioning and impact” of the party’s women’s league, which is headed by Madikizela- Mandela. In his report to the gathering, Motlanthe painted a grim picture of the women’s league. It was characterised by ”poor mass activism” and ”low levels of political consciousness among members”. There was also considerable ”distance between the leadership and membership and between the league and women in localities”. Moreover, there was ”disunity and lack of cohesion at the leadership level” of the league. The league had also sought to involve itself in divisive activity in the ANC.
Motlanthe told ANC delegates that since its last conference in 1997 the women’s league had had to dissolve its provincial executive committees in both the North West and Free State. And, as result of poor organisation, its national conference scheduled for April this year had had to be postponed. Motlanthe said that in the absence of a ”coherent working relationship” with bodies such as the Office on the Status of Women and the Commission of Gender Equality, the section of the ANC Madikizela- Mandela headed had failed to make any serious impact.
Madikizela-Mandela’s popularity has been on the wane since her sacking as a deputy minister four years ago following several allegations of misuse of authority. She was fired by her former husband, Nelson Mandela, after she had made an unauthorised trip abroad. She lost her position as the fifth most popular member of the party at the Mafikeng conference in 1997, where she dropped to number 15, below Nkosazana Zuma, who came in as the party’s top woman at number 12. She faced further humiliation when her bid for the party’s deputy presidency in 1997 collapsed. She could not get sufficient support from delegates at the Mafeking conference to get her name on the ballot paper.