A former United Democratic Front (UDF) grouping, backed by African National Congress chiefs in the North West province, is “plotting” to undermine President Thabo Mbeki, sources close to the ANC leadership claimed this week.
In the latest intrigue to emerge in advance of the ANC’s national conference in December, the sources said moves were afoot to delink the presidency of the country from that of the party. The agenda, they said, was to weaken Mbeki’s control of party structures.
They pointed to the fact that a review of the ANC’s constitution features on the agenda of the party’s provincial conference in the North West, which started on Thursday. It was the first province to debate the issue.
A computer disk containing the proposal had been circulated in various provinces, they said.
The sources claimed that current North West party chairperson Popo Molefe — a former UDF member — was planning to weaken the current national leadership’s hold over the party and place former UDF members in the ANC’s national executive.
The sources say they have the backing of a significant portion of the ANC Youth League in North West. The national leadership of the Youth League has already announced that the top two positions of the ANC — the president and his deputy — will not be contested in December.
The long-standing rift between former UDF activists and exiles has resurfaced in recent months. Senior North West ANC member Baba Schalk recently called for an end to the pigeon-holing of members along UDF-exile lines.
This week the Mail & Guardian was also contacted by a non-Nguni grouping in the ANC, which said it supported an amendment to the party’s constitution, delinking the presidency from the party leadership. The group, which also asked to remain anonymous, comprises members resentful of the perceived political dominance of Xhosa and Zulu-speakers.
Two weeks ago the ANC’s online publication, ANC Today, accused the M&G of using “faceless” sources to further a tribalist agenda. Its complaint centred on a report that the non-Nguni faction planned to nominate national chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota for the ANC deputy president’s position.
The Mbeki camp also cites the lobbying for Lekota — another former UDF member — as part of the “conspiracy”.
A bulletin of the North West conference states that while the conference does not have the authority to amend the constitution, “the exercise will provide structures of the ANC in the province an opportunity to identify possible areas within the ANC constitution that need assessment”.
A spokesperson for the ANC in the North West, Eliot Mayisela, hotly disputed the plot claims. He was not “aware of any such move”, nor had there been any “prior discussions within the provincial executive” about delinking the party leadership from that of the country.
Mayisela said the party expected discussions on the ANC constitution to be “wide-ranging” and not to deal with any specific issue. The purpose was to generate “meaningful” input and proposals for the ANC’s policy conference in September and its national conference in Stellenbosch at the end of the year.
Among the issues likely to be discussed are the representation of women in the ANC executive, government systems, the HIV/Aids crisis and the realignment of party structures with new municipal boundaries.
This is not the first time that North West ANC leaders, including Molefe, have been accused of trying to undermine Mbeki. Last year head office officials linked him to a pamphlet suggesting a debate was needed on the subject “one term, one president”.
Molefe denied knowledge of, or involvement in, drafting the pamphlet.
Meanwhile, the non-Nguni grouping — which claims to have the support of certain sections of the trade union movement and the South African Communist Party — said it would support former UDF members’ candidature for national party positions. It said it would back Tokyo Sexwale as the ANC’s next treasurer.
Current ANC deputy secretary general Thenjiwe Mtintso does not seem to enjoy the support of either faction for re-election, which both favour the nomination of Minister of Housing Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele for the position.
However, party insiders feel that it is “highly unlikely” Mthembi-Mahanyele would leave the Cabinet to work for the party.