Early in his presidency, Jacob Zuma warned the ANC and its allies that he would not tolerate succession talk until the time was right. “We cannot deviate and divert our minds from delivery and think about who will be what in 2012. That’s opportunistic,” Zuma said at the September 2009 Cosatu congress.
But despite all that timing talk, the succession race has clearly begun. Those ready to step up to the presidential plate are quietly getting on their game gear behind the scenes in a sort of hush-hush jockeying for position — a big shift from Polokwane, where the camps were easy to define and the ANC cadres were openly defending their candidate.
“Things are a lot more subtle this time around. These are not gangs of thieves plotting,” a close adviser to one of the contenders recently told the Mail & Guardian. “They know they will be in trouble if they get caught doing that. They have to be very cautious.”
Although Zuma is far from out of the race — those close to him say the president is confident he will serve a second term — it might not be as easy as it sounds.
The current contenders are Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Minister of Housing Tokyo Sexwale and Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu. But so high are the stakes that friends, advisers and staffers of the contenders have all been told to keep succession plans under the tightest of wraps — or at least not speak anywhere near the record — even though the race is well under way.
They have learned from Sexwale’s failed presidency bid in the 2007 ANC elective conference: be careful about raising your hand for it can lead to massive embarrassment when you have to take it down again. But there’s another lesson clearly learned from Sexwale: start planning early and carefully. And that is precisely what they are doing, mostly by simply doing their jobs.
The good guy
Motlanthe was never one for the limelight. During his short stint as president he tended to shy away from media attention. But as deputy, Motlanthe has become far more visible. We’ve seen him on tours, visits and inspections all over the country, checking on the state of readiness of venues for the World Cup.
Well, it is his day job, after all. But if you take into account the fact that Motlanthe recently surprised his closest confidants by saying he would be ready to succeed Zuma as president, his hectic public schedule suddenly takes on a different hue.
“He is willing to do it [become the president] now, for this is the first time he is actually saying he will. Before, we never knew what his view was,” one of his friends recently told the M&G.
The source said Motlanthe’s views are similar to those of many in the ANC; that Zuma’s poor performance as head of state has been worrying, including the crippling effect that the president’s indecisiveness and multiple political debts have had on the running of the country.
One Gauteng leader said that if Motlanthe were to announce his candidacy scores of ANC supporters would unite behind him: “All that should happen is one person must put their hand up at a conference and nominate Kgalema. You will see how that conference will swing [in his favour],” the leader said.
Motlanthe managed to sustain support from some provincial leaders, which he gained before the ANC’s elective conference in Polokwane when he was the ANC secretary general. And although the nerve centre of his lobby group is in Gauteng, he is also said to be close to Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale.
Opening the gate
A key constituency that Motlanthe may not be able to rely on is the unions. One unionist summed it up: “We have no idea what Motlanthe will do with us. If other guys [than Zuma] come into office, we will have more problems as Cosatu.
“Some will push for Kgalema and Tokyo Sexwale as his deputy. This will then open the gate for Tokyo to get the job after Kgalema.”
The millionaire
Sexwale has made a conspicuous habit of denying being in any race for presidency.
Why would he? He had the red-carpet treatment as Gauteng premier and he has more cash than he can spend in a lifetime. Why wouldn’t he, like the rest of us, simply want to buy an Indian Ocean island and drink piña coladas all day?
Because what could the man who has everything actually want? The ultimate job.
And his dedication to his current job — and the PR spin that goes along with it — backs that up. After all, what better story is there about Sexwale, the man of the people, than him spending the night in a shack in Diepsloot or launching an initiative to fix badly constructed houses?
That hasn’t slipped by Zuma either. According to one of his advisers, Zuma targets the housing problems in the townships he visits, trying to show up Sexwale for doing shoddy work. In fact, in his latest visit to Siyathemba, Zuma told angry protesters to aim their anger at his ministers and threatened to remove them if they don’t deliver.
Housing, of course, was a key complaint.
But one provincial ANC insider said Sexwale would settle for the position of deputy president instead of aiming for the top job, which many in the ANC believe he is campaigning for: “There is such a culture of giving the job as president to the deputy president. Tokyo’s dilemma is how do you deal with Kgalema, who is already there?”
The royal and the youth
Of course, a key player in the succession battle will be the ANC Youth League, which fancies itself the kingmaker of the ANC. And, considering its strength in Polokwane in the shoot-out between Zuma and Thabo Mbeki, the league will play no minor role in Mangaung in 2012.
Sexwale, who has always supported youth league activities, seems to have cooled his relations with Malema of late — which, according to a close friend of Sexwale’s, is simply because Malema is not an honest broker. This is the man, after all, who coined the phrase: “In politics your friend today is your enemy tomorrow.”
But it was this breakdown that opened the space for the savvy Sisulu, Sexwale’s predecessor as housing minister.
Last year the two locked horns about housing, Sexwale claiming he had to fix Sisulu’s shoddy work, while Sisulu claimed Sexwale wanted to destroy her public image because she is a threat for the presidency.
It was under the auspices of the newly established national youth service that Sisulu approached Malema to garner support for the new initiative.
The fashionista of Cabinet, Sisulu is, in circles such as the soldiers’ union, known as a “drama queen” because of the disdain with which she treats soldiers. But there’s no denying her power. She is close to Zuma, has a powerful portfolio and is a key member of historical ANC royalty. But she has no constituency and no money to back her — both of which the Youth League can help with.
Sisulu’s name is coming up in the Youth League as an alternative candidate for the ANC presidency, but those around her say she will play it cool. “She’s going to be the new way,” a source close to Sisulu said, “but she’s playing cagily. She knows she is very senior and in any game she will be senior.”
Sisulu will, according to the source, position herself “left of Tokyo”, but live up to the nationalist ideals to secure the support of the nationalist grouping in the ANC, which includes Malema.
But now that the youth league is far from the homogenous group that united behind the controversial president, contenders for the country’s top job aren’t lining up behind Malema. The league’s provincial conferences were all chaotic, showing his power base is truly shrinking. So for now, contenders for the presidency seem to be holding off on fully throwing their weight behind Malema.
But those who wish to take over the presidency in 2012, when the ANC has its next elective conference, aren’t likely to have an appetite for a Polokwane-style stand-off.
For now, it seems, all three contenders will build their constituencies to weaken Zuma’s and show themselves as viable alternatives. And then, perhaps, in a Polokwane redux, they will gently suggest to Zuma that he save himself from an Mbeki-like humiliation. But it will still be a while before Motlanthe, Sexwale and Sisulu will show their game faces. Until then, their day jobs should provide ample opportunities to build political support.