The African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday denied a report that some of its senior officials may push for an early general election to try to undermine plans by former party members to form a breakaway group.
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe told a news conference this had not been discussed at a meeting of the party’s national executive committee (NEC) on Wednesday and dismissed the report as a rumour.
Citing an anonymous insider, the Star said some members of the party’s NEC may press for an early poll as more regional and provincial executive members are expected to leave the party this week.
An election is not due until about April next year.
The NEC met on Wednesday to discuss a rebellion led by former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota, who resigned after the ANC forced former South African president Thabo Mbeki to stand down.
Mbeki’s ousting was the climax of a power struggle with Jacob Zuma, recently elected leader of the ANC, and has unleashed the country’s worst political crisis since the end of apartheid in 1994.
The former premier of Gauteng, Mbhazima Shilowa, said on Wednesday he had resigned from the ANC and would join a dissident group threatening to form a breakaway group.
The creation of a new party would be the most serious division in the 96-year history of the ANC, which has ruled since the end of apartheid, and would raise questions about the political direction of Africa’s biggest economy.
Shilowa, one of the ANC’s most respected officials and a favourite with the business community, announced his decision two days after the party suspended Lekota for threatening to form a breakaway party.
It is not clear how much support Lekota, a former ANC chairperson, has.
Political drama
In a television interview on Wednesday evening, Zuma said the ANC is not divided right down the middle. However, he admitted: ”I’m definitely concerned.”
This followed the week of political drama in which Lekota was suspended and Shilowa resigned from the party. Both have conveyed that a new party may arise from a national convention scheduled for November 2.
Last week, Lekota and his former defence deputy, Mluleki George, said they were concerned that the ANC had moved away from its founding principles.
Lekota suggested the national convention to gauge how people felt about developments in the party. These included the NEC asking Mbeki to resign in September after a court judgement setting aside corruption charges against Zuma.
Asked on Wednesday whether unity in the ANC was under severe threat, Zuma said: ”Not necessarily. You have a few comrades who have very strong feelings about decisions in the organisation who decide to part with the organisation. It is a challenge we have to deal with in a manner that is responsible.”
ANC members have to observe its procedures and traditions when trying to resolve matters, he said. ”People now just jump out and say, ‘There are problems here, I’m leaving.”’
On the party losing some of its most prominent leaders, Zuma said: ”I’m very careful of us using the word of ANC division.”
He added: ”There may be special issues in the Western Cape [where there have been rallies apparently in support of Lekota] that make that province look a particular way. Even before Terror [Lekota] went there, at the provincial conference people were not happy. It cannot be assumed this is what is happening throughout the country.”
No difficulties
Meanwhile, political leadership in the Eastern Cape has not been shaken by the recent tussles within the ANC, Eastern Cape Premier Mbulelo Sogoni told a media briefing in Bisho on Thursday morning.
”As you can see we are all here doing the work of government and have not come across any difficulties in implementing the work of the government,” Sogoni said.
He said none of the ministers in his province had indicated their intention to resign from the party and the positions they held.
”We do not expect any resignations and we certainly hope temperatures will calm down sooner so that government can work in a stable environment,” Sogoni said.
He said this despite rumours that two of the provincial ministers had indicated their intentions to resign.
The province’s housing minister, Thobile Mhlahlo, was among those rumoured to be at the verge of throwing in the towel in favour of the looming formation of a new political party.
But he has since denied the rumours, saying he had been in the ANC for 29 years and that his credentials within the movement attest to his ”unwavering loyalty”.