A bitter factional battle is raging within ANC president Jacob Zuma’s camp as party members jostle for top government posts under the new regime.
At issue is whether Zuma or ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe should replace Thabo Mbeki as the country’s president after 2009.
Despite the party’s recent pronouncement that Zuma would be the ANC’s presidential candidate in next year’s national elections, the Mail & Guardian has established that there is little consensus within the Zuma camp. The point of dispute is the country’s deputy presidency.
The core Zuma group — led by KwaZulu-Natal finance minister Zweli Mkhize, SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande and some leaders of the ANC Youth League — is already trying hard to block Motlanthe’s appointment as the country’s deputy president under Mbeki.
The Motlanthe faction is lobbying for the ANC deputy president to be the organisation’s presidential candidate in the national elections. The lobby says that Zuma, who was acquitted of rape charges and now faces corruption charges, is too tainted to be the face of the ANC during the elections.
Talks about Motlanthe’s deployment in government gained prominence during and after the ANC lekgotla earlier this year. Those pushing for Motlanthe’s appointment as the country’s deputy president include Gauteng finance minister and ANC provincial chairman Paul Mashatile, Gauteng ANC provincial secretary David Makhura, Free State ANC provincial secretary Charlotte Lobe, Western Cape ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha and businessman Tokyo Sexwale.
The party’s national executive committee (NEC) is expected to finalise discussions about Motlanthe’s appointment and put a formal request to Mbeki next month. Mbeki this week told Independent Newspapers he had not been approached by any of the new ANC leaders to appoint Motlanthe as deputy president.
A senior ANC executive committee member sympathetic to Motlanthe told the M&G that the ANC leadership was planning to approach Mbeki with a formal proposal to appoint Motlanthe after the matter had been discussed and agreed by all NEC members during next month’s meeting. However, it appears the Zuma loyalists are now planning to head off the idea of Motlanthe’s appointment as they believe the move would give him an advantage over Zuma.
‘The argument that Kgalema should become the country’s deputy president has not found common ground within the Zuma camp. The dilemma is that for it to happen, the Zuma loyalists must champion it. That is unlikely to happen because it will put him in a good position beyond Zuma,†said an NEC member.
The first indication that not everyone within the Zuma group was happy with Motlanthe’s appointment came from the ANC Youth League in Limpopo, which released a statement this week calling for Zuma’s reinstatement as the country’s deputy president.
Limpopo ANCYL provincial secretary Julius Malema this week said his organisation decided to call for Zuma’s reinstatement because there was no formal position on who among the new ANC leaders should be deployed in government.
‘We are not imposing our decision. Our position merely seeks to influence the position of the ANC.†Malema argued that Zuma needed to familiarise himself with government processes before he took over as the country’s president. ‘The only time he can do that is now — as deputy president. He must learn now so that after 2009, he will start implementing ANC policies as the country’s president.
Another senior ANC executive member, who asked not to be named, said the idea that Zuma, instead of Motlanthe, be appointed the country’s deputy president did not come only from the ANCYL.
‘There are senior ANC members within the core Zuma group who are not comfortable with Motlanthe taking over as deputy president of the country. They doubt his loyalty to Zuma. They don’t trust him to go to government alone.
The reason the new leadership has not approached Mbeki about Motlanthe’s appointment is because there is no common ground on that issue. The statement by the ANCYL in Limpopo was intended to destabilise the whole view that Motlanthe should be appointed as the country’s deputy president,†said the ANC source.
The opposition to Motlanthe’s appointment was driven by personal ambition, said an ANC source. ‘People are worried about what will happen to them if Motlanthe becomes the next president. They have invested a lot on Zuma and are now expecting favours once he takes over as the country’s president.â€
An ANC NEC member sympathetic to Motlanthe said the issue of Zuma’s reinstatement was not on the agenda for next month’s meeting. ‘What will he gain? He was the country’s deputy president. He knows how the government runs. They [Zuma loyalists] will not win this argument. They are fighting a war that they will not win. We are going to push for Motlanthe to be appointed as deputy president of the country,†said the ANC insider.