The aftershocks from Thabo Mbeki’s sacking continue to reverberate through South Africa. This week saw Gauteng Premier Sam Shilowa resign out of loyalty to Mbeki. He said that while the African National Congress was perfectly within its rights to recall Mbeki, the decision needed to be based on solid facts, and be fair and just.
Shilowa said he felt he would not be able, “with conviction”, to defend the party’s decision on Mbeki.
“You stand by your own if you think they’ve been wrongly dealt with. I’m doing no more than that,” he added.
The party wasted no time in hitting back, saying they disapproved of Shilowa’s “unbecoming behaviour” and that it expected him to “observe discipline, behave honestly and carry out loyally the decisions of the majority and of higher bodies”.
Like an itch that won’t go away, the party felt duty-bound to respond. It’s obviously an issue about which the party is not prepared to brook any dissent — and beware any member that dare breathe a word on the manner in which Mbeki was bundled out of office.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel played down the incident and said he expected in the next few weeks there may be “a few” resignations.
“There is likely to be some steadying of the ship over the next period and as that happens, individuals will choose to depart,” said Manuel.
Did the ANC jump the gun in sacking Mbeki?
| FULL SPEED AHEAD |
NOT SO FAST |
Barbara Hogan
Hogan, the new Minister of Health, is making all the right noises as she starts her tenure. Hogan said she would push to get antiretroviral drugs to as many people as possible, while avoiding “cheap solutions” and “political games”. |
 ANC
The Gauteng ANC this week took exception to outgoing Premier Mbhazima Shilowa going public with his reasons for resigning, describing it as “unbecoming behaviour”. Why should the public not be informed of the reasons for political decisions affecting it? |
Most-read stories
September 25 to October 1
1. Zuma faces ANC rebellion
ANC president Jacob Zuma will spend the months ahead engaging ANC provincial structures in an attempt to head off what seems to be an internal rebellion in the party, as more ANC members call for an alternative political home.
2. Arms: How Mbeki meddled
In his application to the Constitutional Court last week, former president Thabo Mbeki denied under oath that he had meddled in the prosecution of ANC president Jacob Zuma.
3. Kasrils shields his legacy
Outgoing intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils engaged in a last-minute scramble this week to protect his legacy of reform at the intelligence services.
4. Motlanthe moves to steady the ship
Kgalema Motlanthe took office on Thursday as South Africa’s president and stressed he would keep to the policies of his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, who resigned in the worst political crisis since apartheid.
5. Gauteng Premier Shilowa resigns
Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa on Monday announced his resignation.
6. Motlanthe elected South African president
The deputy president of the African National Congress (ANC), Kgalema Motlanthe, was elected President of South Africa in the National Assembly on Thursday by 269 votes to the 50 cast for the chairperson of the Democratic Alliance, Joe Seremane.
7. ANC Youth League wields its power
Regarded by some as troublemakers and courted by others as kingmakers, the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) has been basking in the limelight as its hero Jacob Zuma closes in on the nation’s presidency.
8. Mugabe demands all ministries
The Zimbabwe government’s power-sharing agreement appeared near to collapse on Tuesday after President Robert Mugabe demanded the right to appoint all key Cabinet ministers, threatening to render the opposition powerless.
9. Zuma to oppose Mbeki’s court challenge
ANC president Jacob Zuma will oppose former president Thabo Mbeki’s application to join an appeal against the Pietermaritzburg High Court judgement suggesting he was part of a plot against Zuma.
10. Begin the ascent to a better place
It was messy and impatient, but Mbeki was the architect of his own political demise