President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday he hoped the African National Congress (ANC) would discuss floor-crossing at its national conference in Polokwane this month.
Speaking in a South African Broadcasting Corporation radio interview, he said the ANC had been opposed to floor-crossing when the issue was first raised by opposition parties.
”The original position of the ANC was, as I say, opposed. But I must also say part of the argument that arose was that you had a very fluid political situation in the country.”
There had been people who were brought up to fear the ANC as a terrorist organisation, and for that reason voted against it.
But after they had watched the party in government for two or three years, they had realised they had been told lies, and decided they wanted to vote for the ANC.
”We are saying, it might also be incorrect to freeze the political situation in the country and not allow people to move as they get more exposed to one another,” he said.
”But let’s put all of those arguments into one pot, whether in Parliament or in the ANC national conference, and see what comes out of it.”
He said that as president of the country, he had told Parliament it should discuss the matter, because the floor-crossing legislation originated from a discussion in Parliament.
”It’s true, the matter has arisen in the ANC context also, and indeed I hope the matter is discussed in Polokwane.”
Fighting crime
Mbeki also said communities have to come together in a strong campaign against crime. He said he had looked hard at the entire criminal justice system.
”The police, the courts, the prisons, prosecutions, everything, to say that we really have to try and revamp that whole system, to make sure we make an impact. We have to attend to this matter of crime, and make sure all of us, our communities, join hands with the police, and together let’s fight this crime,” he said.
He said it was critically important communities were involved in the fight against crime.
”A lot of the violence against women and children occurs in homes, and there is no police member sitting in everybody’s house to make sure that it doesn’t happen.
”The communities really need to respond … to protect the women and the children, and we mustn’t turn a blind eye and say this is a private matter,” Mbeki said.
Beyond Polokwane
Turning to the party’s leadership contest, he said this was up to its membership and the race should not be seen in a negative light.
The people nominated were ”not nominated because they are enemies”, and should not treat one another as such.
It was a normal part of the democratic process, even within the ANC.
”I think let’s just respect what the membership says,” Mbeki said.
”Of course members should be perfectly entitled to conclude ‘we would prefer such and such a person for such and such a position’.
”I suppose the membership would look at various issues, various factors … or the progress that had been made in various areas.
”From my point of view, it’s perfectly all right if ANC structures conduct these democratic processes and nominate whoever they want.”
But he also warned members needed to accept the ”consequences” of their choice.
”We really need to accept the consequences of our own affirmation of the democratic processes within the ANC.”
One had to accept that the ANC constitution allowed any member to run for any position in the party.
”I think we’ve got to accept that, and so when people run for any position in the ANC that has to be very much part of the nature of the ANC.”
It was important that the contest be handled as a ”normal democratic process”.
”The people who might be opposing one another in this context must not see themselves as enemies, and therefore ‘when I win, I’m going to fix my enemy who opposed me’.
”That’s not part of this democratic process,” he said.
Mbeki and his party deputy Jacob Zuma are the only two people who have been nominated by the ANC provinces and leagues for the leadership of the party, which comes up for review at the ANC’s national conference in Polokwane later this month.
However, nominations can still be made from the floor.
Mbeki said that while the democratic contest in itself should not be worrying, the way it was handled could create problems.
”If you have an ANC that destroys itself because we’ve got these entrenched factions; that has to be avoided.”
It was important that the current debate and campaigning not be handled in a manner ”as though there is no tomorrow”.
”After we finish in Polokwane there will be a tomorrow, there must be an ANC. An ANC which has its tasks and responsibilities to the people.
”You can’t treat the Polokwane national conference as the beginning and end of everything. You’ve got to consider what happens afterwards,” he said.
People might be campaigning, but they had to conduct themselves in a manner that recognised the ANC had a responsibility to the future.
Mbeki also rejected the notion that there would be two centres of power if the ANC president and the president of the country were different people.
The politicians deployed to the government by the ANC were accountable to the ANC, which was the body that originated policy.
”There isn’t any major policy that government has implemented since 1994, there isn’t one single major policy position … that hasn’t emanated from decisions of the ANC,” he said.
”I’m quite certain that this notion of two centres of power, that there’s a government made up of ANC people deployed by the ANC, who pursue policies that are not ANC policies, is wrong.”
He also rejected a suggestion that he had centralised power around himself, saying he had consulted widely within the ANC on both Cabinet appointments, and the appointment of premiers.
”I’ve posed this question to ANC structures, asking what this so-called centralisation of power was, and what its manifestations were.
”And really nobody has answered this,” he said. – Sapa