In an eleventh-hour appeal before the African National Congress’s (ANC) national conference starts in Polokwane on Sunday, President Thabo Mbeki on Friday urged delegates to remain faithful to the party’s revolutionary goals.
Writing in his weekly newsletter on the ANC website, Mbeki said, as before, the eyes of South Africans, others in the rest of Africa and the world will focus on the conference.
”This is because everybody understands that the decisions we take during the 52nd national conference will have an important impact on our country and other peoples beyond our borders.”
It is therefore important that as the delegates to the national conference convene at the University of Limpopo, they should fully understand the great responsibility they carry on their shoulders.
This includes the necessity to understand properly the implications of each and every decision they take, the impact of which will be felt long after the conference concludes its work on December 20, as has happened throughout the long history of the party, he said.
Responsibility
Mbeki quoted at length from presidential addresses made at the ANC’s earlier national conferences in 1957 (Albert Luthuli), 1985 (Oliver Tambo), 1997 (Nelson Mandela) and 2000 (Mbeki). These conferences had charted the way forward towards the goal of the genuine emancipation of the people and country.
What was said then should serve to remind all delegates at Polokwane of the solemn responsibility they have to respect in word and deed, the lives lost — and the sacrifices made — by the masses of the people in the struggle, said Mbeki.
”Nelson Mandela had said that our movement must continue to act at the cutting point of change, behaving as the forward point of the spear of change. Oliver Tambo had said we had to treat the ANC conference as a council of war whose decisions would lead to the emancipation of our people. Albert Luthuli said all members had a task each to do his or her best for the freedom cause.”
He added: ”A red thread runs through all the presidential addresses delivered at the opening of our national conferences.” Together they said, firstly, the ANC met in conference to plan what the movement should do next to advance the cause of the all-round emancipation of the people.
Secondly, the delegates who convened in conference were distinguished by their firm commitment, as true patriots, to do everything in their power to serve the people rather than themselves. Lastly, members of the ANC carried the historic responsibility to occupy the forward trenches in the struggle to realise the aspirations of the people.
”When our delegates convene in Limpopo … they must do so fully conscious of the fact that once again, these are the fundamental perspectives that continue to define the task of our national conferences and distinguish genuine members of what Oliver Tambo correctly described as the pioneer of the African revolutionary movement.
”I wish the historic 52nd national conference of our movement success,” Mbeki said.
Leadership battle
Meanwhile, Mbeki this week said the bitter contest to lead the party could be its undoing.
”If division leads to retribution, that’s what will destroy the ANC … Part of our responsibility is to avoid such an outcome,” Mbeki said in an interview with the Mail & Guardian.
Zuma looks set to win the ANC leadership battle after taking a strong lead in branch nominations. A victory would virtually assure him of the South African presidency in the 2009 election because of the party’s electoral dominance.
The ANC election has not been drawn along policy lines but rather has developed into a clash of personalities.
The pair’s rivalry stems from Mbeki’s 2005 dismissal of Zuma as the country’s deputy president after he was tied to a corruption scandal. The case against Zuma collapsed last year on procedural grounds, but prosecutors have hinted they are likely to recharge the controversial but popular Zulu politician.
Mbeki is a shrewd strategist, more comfortable in small groups than with large crowds. Zuma is charismatic, a big draw among people who feel they have not benefited from Mbeki’s leadership.
”We must take this thing away from personalities — the masses of our people are not in the least interested in who dances best,” said Mbeki, who must step down as the country’s leader in 2009.