We saw it in Mangaung this past weekend. Gauteng housing minister Nomvula Mokonyane was the only candidate for the deputy president of the Women’s League. But no, Mokonyane belonged to the wrong faction of the Women’s League and had to be dealt with. Mokonyane had been widely criticised for campaigning against presidential candidate Angie Motshekga and she would not be allowed to deputise Motshekga.
A candidate close to Motshekga, Nosipho Ntwanambi, was nominated and duly got more votes than Mokonyane.
It is block-voting that determines who becomes a leader in the ANC these days. It does not matter what the merits of the individual are; if they are not on the already drawn up factional list, they are out. A week earlier, at the Youth League conference in Nasrec, Johannesburg, Youth League president Julius Malema’s lobbyists called it a ”total takeover”.
This was a reference to the clean sweep by the Malema group not only of the top five positions, but the rest of the 35-person national executive committee (NEC).
Former deputy secretary Saki Mofokeng, who had initially challenged the election of Malema before the congress, surprised many when he stood up and urged everyone to throw their weight behind Malema. Mofokeng’s show of unity and reconciliation was partly aimed at avoiding the chaos that characterised the earlier Youth League conference, but also at guaranteeing that he and some of his key backers would be elected on to the NEC as reward for their sacrificial gesture.
But, hours before voting for the NEC, the Malema group distributed a list that excluded Mofokeng, his great ally Lebogang Maile, and anyone else associated with them. Mofokeng, Maile et al were wiped out completely. Needless to say we saw the same in Polokwane. This is the pattern that is emerging. Is it good for the ANC? At the Youth League conference, the reason given for cleaning out Mofokeng and his group was that Malema should not be hampered in his work by people who don’t like him. Since when, you might ask, does liking have anything to do with internal party democracy?
There is no doubt Jacob Zuma has finally stamped his influence on all key structures of the ANC and its alliance partners. It started with Cosatu and the SACP last year. In the case of the latter, Blade Nzimande’ group got rid of the likes of Ronnie Kasrils, Charles Nqakula, Phillip Dexter and Mazibuko Jara. This year it has been the turn of the Youth League and now the Women’s League, which was reclaimed from Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini.
Even at the level of local government, several mayors regarded as Thabo Mbeki appointees have been threatened with removal. In the Free State, after Polokwane, Ace Magashule’s group unsuccessfully tried to get Luthuli House to remove premier Beatrice Marshoff and install Magashule, but the ANC’s top brass told them to take a hike.
It is a winner-takes-all mentality that will see the ANC lose top brains who happen to be on the wrong side of Zuma. This short-sightedness is not good for the long-term vibrancy and survival of the ANC. If anything, it may be good news for the opposition parties. No doubt those marginalised will not join the Democratic Alliance, but why should they invest their energies campaigning for next year’s elections if they know they are not coming back?