In the first salvo of what promises to be an intense battle for the control of the powerful ANC national executive committee (NEC), Cosatu in KwaZulu-Natal has proposed the exclusion of President Thabo Mbeki and government ministers presumed to be loyal to him when a new NEC is elected in December.
Cosatu KZN’s 20-person list features mostly supporters of ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, who are currently not in the NEC but are in Cosatu, the SACP and the ANC Youth League. A surprise inclusion is S’bu Ndebele, who is a known Mbeki supporter.
Cosatu leaders say the proposed members will ensure that worker issues take centre stage in South African politics. The federation hopes to “flood” the ANC and the NEC with people “who have a proven track record of being loyal and sympathetic to the aspirations of the working class”.
Cosatu is scheduled to finalise its list at its central committee meeting next month. The KZN list excludes members of what left-leaning organisations have termed the “class of 1996”, led by Mbeki.
Cosatu KZN provincial secretary Zet Luzipho says: “Thabo Mbeki is not on the list because we believe we can’t have a president who becomes a deputy president and then an ordinary NEC member.”
Those Cosatu wants excluded are fervent Mbeki loyalists such as Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin and Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi. They are perceived to be hostile to the working class.
Also excluded are members of Mbeki’s inner circle — head of policy in the Presidency Joel Netshitenzhe, ANC deputy secretary general Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele, director general in the Presidency Frank Chikane, ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad and Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad.
Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils and former justice minister Pennuel Maduna, who have had run-ins with Zuma or Zuma’s associates, such as former intelligence boss Billy Masetlha, are also not on the list.
The federation is also lobbying for the exclusion of ANC business moguls, including Tokyo Sexwale and the former general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, Cyril Ramaphosa.
A member of Cosatu’s provincial executive points out that, “in the current NEC, Blade Nzimande is the only one who is not coming from the government or who is not involved in business”.
The labour federation and the SACP launched a similar attack on “Mbeki-ites” in 1997 when a “concerned” group from the two organisations drafted an alternative list for the ANC’s NEC.
Mbeki defeated the group, however, which mostly comprised communists, when he caught wind of the plan a week before the conference.
Writing in Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC, William Gumede says: “Under enormous pressure from Mbeki, then secretary general Charles Nqakula and his deputy, Jeremy Cronin, censured the group leaders and instructed them to stop lobbying for left-wing domination of the NEC or face disciplinary hearings and possible expulsion.”
Cosatu expects things to be different this time around.
Luzipho explains: “It is no longer a secret campaign by a concerned group. It is now a collective decision. One must understand that these matters emanate from the events of 1997.
“It would appear that people have been disappointed by the post-1997 NEC and may have canvassed their views to such an extent that it became Cosatu’s resolution that, this time around, it should submit its own list.”
Luzipho adds that the organisation deliberately excluded its core leadership, general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi and chairperson Willie Madisha, from its proposed NEC list because “we believe this would compromise their independence and Cosatu’s agenda. Cosatu has a responsibility to carry through the aspirations of the working class. While we hope to tilt the scales in the NEC, we do not want to do so by undermining our own organisational agendas.”
The top 20
1. Jacob Zuma
2. Kgalema Motlanthe
3. Blade Nzimande
4. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
5. Gwede Mantashe
6. Nozizwe Mdlala-Routledge
7. Ncumisa Nkondlo
8. Jeremy Cronin
9. Fikile Majola
10. Sdumo Dlamini
11. Ebrahim Ebrahim
12. Noluthando Mayende
13. Zweli Mkhize
14. Nathi Mthethwa
15. Fikile Mbalula
16. Makhenkesi Stofile
17. Matthews Phosa
18. S’bu Ndebele
19. Zizi Kodwa
20. Randall Howard