Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is Âweighing her options as the country’s deputy president. This has emerged as momentum gathers for African National Congress deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe to take her place in Âgovernment.
Several senior government and ANC sources close to Mlambo-Ngcuka told the Mail & Guardian this week that the deputy president had confided to friends and government colleagues that she is considering quitting her job.
At least one source who spoke to Mlambo-Ngcuka said the deputy president was unhappy with comments made by senior ANC leaders in recent weeks implying that she is no longer needed.
‘Her view is that if people feel she is an obstacle, she is willing to get out. She believes this [the decision to resign] will not only be about her, but in the interest of the country,†said the source.
However, another source said these were her initial thoughts when the matter was first raised. She had been persuaded otherwise now and was prepared to stay.
The new ANC leadership, led by ANC president Jacob Zuma, has made it clear that it wants President Thabo Mbeki to appoint Motlanthe as deputy president of the country. The ANC leaders believe Motlanthe’s appointment would ensure a smooth transition when Mbeki’s term of office comes to an end next year. They also believe Motlanthe is best placed to monitor Mbeki’s government to ensure implementation of policy decisions taken at the recent ANC conference in Polokwane.
The Zuma camp’s push for Motlanthe as the country’s deputy president could also be read as a strategic move by the ANC leadership to prepare him for the country’s top job, should Jacob Zuma be convicted on corruption and fraud charges. Zuma’s corruption trial begins in August.
Mlambo-Ngcuka was appointed the country’s deputy president after Mbeki fired Zuma in 2005.
Analysts and politicians believe Mbeki was grooming her to succeed him as South Africa’s first woman president.
She has been praised for her intervention to ensure that the national Aids treatment plan was put back on track, after being derailed by controversial Health Minister Manto ÂTshabalala-Msimang.
She also spearheaded the government’s growth initiative plan, Asgisa, aimed at removing constraints on growth.
But Zuma’s victory in Polokwane means she has no chance of succeeding Mbeki.
She lost the contest for the position of ANC treasurer general to former Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa at the ANC’s conference in Limpopo.
Now the Zuma-led ANC national executive committee is moving to assert its authority in Parliament, provinces and party structures.
Asked if Mlambo-Ngcuka had approached Mbeki about her intentions, presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga said: ‘I know nothing about it.â€
Mlambo-Ngcuka’s spokesperson, Thabang Chiloane, said he did not know if the deputy president had told Mbeki about her intentions.
‘What I know is that she will stay the course with the president until the end of her term,†said Chiloane.
ANC spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso said he was not aware of any plan by Mlambo-Ngcuka to quit.
Regarding Motlanthe’s appointment as the country’s deputy president, Rikhotso said: ‘There has never been a formal discussion about Motlanthe’s secondment to government. What has been said is, now that he [Motlanthe] is no longer a full-time official, how can the ANC best utilise and extract value from him. The discussions around how to utilise him are still under way,†said Rikhotso.
For Mbeki to appoint Motlanthe as the country’s deputy president, he will need to remove Mlambo-Ngcuka from her position, as the Constitution does not allow for two deputy presidents.
There has been intense speculation in the ANC’s parliamentary caucus about what is seen now as Motlanthe’s inevitable appointment as Âdeputy president.
The first step in his likely elevation would be his appointment as an MP. It is widely believed among ruling party MPs that he will be given the seat left vacant by the death of Cosatu veteran John Gomomo.
An ANC official within the Mbeki camp said: ‘I doubt if Mbeki will do it [appoint Motlanthe as deputy president]. He does not want to be told what to do. I doubt if he will budge, especially when the intention is so clear that the move to push Motlanthe is done not in the interest of the country but to settle political scores.
‘They [the Zuma camp] don’t have any avenue to force Mbeki to appoint Motlanthe.
The only avenue is to convince Parliament to change the Constitution to allow for two deputy presidents.â€