A KwaZulu-Natal minister, a member of the African National Congress national executive committee and a regional secretary — all fervent Jacob Zuma supporters — are said to have orchestrated the ploy to embarrass President Thabo Mbeki and the nation during Mbeki’s address at the funeral of anti-apartheid struggle hero Moses Mabhida.
But the probe into the plot is likely to finger only their dispensable foot soldiers.
Four provincial ministers and a number of senior provincial leaders interviewed by the Mail & Guardian said these senior provincial leaders bused in the rowdy crowd that disrupted Mbeki’s address and staged a walkout at Harry Gwala stadium in Pietermaritzburg from KwaMashu and Umlazi townships in Durban.
The weekend disruption was the sequel to a similar incident reportedly organised by the same leaders in ÂÂOctober, during which more than 200 self-proclaimed Zuma supporters hijacked the launch of Mahatma Gandhi’s satyagraha movement, attended by Mbeki and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Both incidents reportedly aimed to grab media attention in order to remind the nation of Zuma’s popularity.
This week, provincial secretary Senzo Mchunu said a team of senior party members would investigate the incident and make its findings public on January 15 next year. Mchunu said the provincial leadership had anticipated the disruption and held two meetings where members were urged to set aside political differences because of the nature of the event and Mabhida’s stature.
Mabhida, who was buried in exile in Maputo in 1986, had risen to the upper echelons of the ANC, the SACP and the South African Congress of Trade Unions. He was part of the MK revolutionary council and political military council, the secretary general of the SACP, an ANC national executive committee member and an executive committee member of the South African Congress of Trade Unions, a predecessor to Cosatu.
A senior ANC leader and member of Premier Sbu Ndebele’s Cabinet said the probe would be a ”whitewash because we all know the people who undermined this important gathering. It is known who these people are. It is the same people who were distributing pro-Zuma T-shirts and launched a rebellion at the NGC [national general council, held in June 2005 after Mbeki sacked Zuma as his deputy]. It’s the same comrades who disrespected the president and the Indian prime minister in Durban. They regard themselves as untouchable within the ANC in the province.”
The provincial minister said it was difficult to fathom why the provincial minister alleged to have planned the disruption was now a front-runner in the Zuma cause ”while it is well known that he did not even want to see Zuma two years ago … The answer to this can be found in the theory that people who are masquerading as Zuma supporters are deeply involved in corrupt practices. They are using his name as their shield to hide behind so that they do not face the music when the law enforcement agents move on to them. It will allow them to cry foul and claim they are being targeted because they support Zuma.”
A source within eThekwini Municipality who is also senior in the ANC in the province said party leaders had prior knowledge of the plot.
”It was clear from the various strategic planning meetings held ahead of the event that some people planned to disrupt it. For instance, it was odd that one minister was not present at all the meetings but showed up on the day of the funeral not properly dressed [wearing a track suit]. He was also not seated with fellow ministers.”
Zuma supporters told the M&G that the plot to disturb Mbeki’s address stemmed from a feeling within the Zuma camp that Ndebele, one of Mbeki’s loudest campaigners, had attempted to hijack Zuma’s long-ÂÂstanding ambition to return Mabhida’s body and claim his legacy. Zuma is seen as Mabhida’s protÃ