Following on the assessment of six potential South African presidential candidates in August, the Mail & Guardian looks at two more candidates who are quietly entering the political arena from the periphery.
Tokyo Sexwale has started speaking out on the succession race and how it affects the ANC and is said to have been approached by individuals and structures in the ANC to run for president.
Tito Mboweni has also taken an increasingly political profile and is reported to be high on the list of the lobby groups in the party.
Tokyo Sexwale
A diplomat
Tokyo Sexwale is the master of oratory. He was essentially forced out of politics by Mbeki when former loyalist Steve Tshwete named him as one of three people plotting to oust Mbeki from power. He has downplayed the rift and quietly re-entered the national political stage.
Unifier
Sexwale comes from the Nelson Mandela school of reconciliation and unity. As Gauteng premier he held wide appeal that cut across race and gender, and was an acclaimed unifier. He has tried to avoid being associated with any of the factions embroiled in the succession race.
Stomach for unpopular decisions
As ANC Gauteng leader in the early 1990s, Sexwale played a role in stopping the violence on the East Rand between the ANC and the IFP. After the brutal slaying of Chris Hani, he appealed for calm.
Technocratic skill
Sexwale has made a success of his business ventures. However, as premier, he was not a spectacular success, making extravagant promises to build 150 000 houses, a target he missed.
Seniority
His disadvantage is that he is not on the ANC’s most senior decision-making body, the national executive committee. He is an ordinary branch member.
Fighting Aids
Sexwale is a chairperson of the board of loveLife. He has spoken out on the need for openness and engagement on Aids issues.
Moral rectitude
He cried like a baby after the death of Chris Hani and endeared himself as a tough MK soldier with a soft heart.
Tito Mboweni
A democrat
Tito Mboweni was in Cabinet during a very different moment in South Africa’s history, and his performance then may be little guide, but his commitment to debate, frank talking, and the independence of the institution he runs augur well for his prospects as a leader.
Unifier
Mboweni would receive backing from business, but is unlikely to appeal to labour and the broad left because of his view that the present dispensation is too generous to labour. He has come out against quotas to protect the clothing industry.
A stomach for difficult decisions
The governor is proud to make difficult decisions, and to take responsibility for them.
Bottom up
These days Mboweni seems more at home in the pinstripes of central bank alley than rubbing shoulders with the hoi polloi. His inflation-busting salary increase a few years back showed he is better at the do-as-I-say rather than do-as-I-do school of leadership. His fondness for the finer things in life — notably single malt whisky, cigars and well-tailored suits — may make him a target for criticism.
Fighting Aids
At a time when Thabo Mbeki was more confidently airing dissident views, Mboweni was warning of the impact of HIV/Aids on the economy. Nothing suggests that his concern has diminished. This year the Reserve Bank launched its HIV/Aids Response programme.
Moral rectitude
There are no major questions on this score.