President Thabo Mbeki
"... we should never become despondent because the weather is bad nor should we turn triumphalist because the sun shines."
Thabo Mbeki | Resignation Speech
Today's resignation of an untold number of Thabo Mbeki's Cabinet Ministers (including Trevor Manuel) and their deputies, the confirmation of Kgalema Motlanthe and Lindiwe Sisulu to the presidency and deputy presidency respectively, and Mbeki's approach to the Constitutional Court to join the NPA's appeal and clear his name indicate battles for the heart and soul of the ANC are far from over.
The series of recent events is coalescing to a war of attrition that will ultimately resurrect, we hope, the spirit of the ANC's founders. (There was a time when 'transparency' meant something. It was practiced rather than abused.)
First, on Mbeki's ousting, Manuel stated his intention to remain Minister of Finance. For some dubious reason — in a world where neoliberal economics is being turned on its head, this mattered greatly to our economists and investors, he changed his mind. That he — and his deputy Jabu Moleketi — tendered his resignation, against his stated intent and however temporarily, is important. He sent a clear message to the Zuma camp that, as the world's longest-serving finance minister, he was less than happy with the treatment meted out to his president, with whom he has a close working relationship.
Secondly, we know Manuel is not favoured by the Zuma Gang (or the increasingly malignant coterie of SACP members driving Zuma), but he does respect Kgalema Motlanthe, an old-school socialist. His resignation therefore affords the incoming president the chance to invite him to resume his duties or, under direction from the NEC, to fill his position with an incumbent of its choosing.
Thirdly, while Judge Chris Nicholson did not cause this upheaval, he was the trigger that precipitated its overt events. The split in the ANC goes back to The Arms Deal and, before that, to the adoption of GEAR. To gauge the damage done to the party, and most will give Motlanthe their backing (the anger among voters in the Western, Eastern, and Northern Capes at Mbeki's treatment is palpable — that Zuma is a Zulu who found favour in a kwaZulu-Natal court has far-reaching, albeit politically incorrect or inadmissible repercussions), we need to work our way back through the week's events.
Should Mbeki succeed in his case — and there is no reason why the Constitutional Court should not overturn the unsubstantiated and unwarranted political ramblings of a judge o'erleaping his ambition — straying from the matter at hand to display an alarming lack of judicial independence in a vain attempt to steer the course of national events, the way will be open for the NPA to appeal Nicholson's ruling, state its case and reinstitute charges against Zuma.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
Fourthly, my feelings against a Zuma presidency derive only partly from a desire to see justice done. Should his day in court be denied, Zuma cannot command the respect due the presidential office. My chief concern, however, is that Zuma represents that which is corrupt in the ANC. A populist in the Shenge mold, he is in it for himself. JZ's personal ambition, denigrating that office, is to be president and he will crush anybody preventing him doing so. Whereas Mandela was pushed to office by his actions and the people, Mbeki was groomed by leadership for a position that might perhaps not been of his choosing.
Allegations that Mbeki and departing Cabinet members put themselves before the country are spurious at best, ignoring decades of self-sacrifice. Those who remain loyal to Zuma (I'm sure he's pleased Ivy Matsepe Casaburri and Manto Tshabalala-Msimang chose to remain aboard) are for the most part careerists and opportunists.
Finally, reports indicate Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka being unhappy Thabo Mbeki refused to accept her resignation Sunday. His acceptance of it and the resignations of a third of his cabinet today speaks volumes. We now know Mbeki, who moved house in the days following Nicholson's judgement, saw this coming and crafted his exit to counter the machinations of the careerists.
He has exposed the vacuum left by his demise and his Cabinet's exit. The ANC might have many members, but it does not have that many able to step in and take up the reins of government. In short, Mbeki exposed the propensity of the many who, sharing Nicholson's lack of discernment, tend to overly blur the already hazy distinction between party and state. That achieved, there is a need for the soon-to-be President Motlanthe to be afforded as much support and space as he needs to restore stability to a country rocked to its foundations by unbridled ambition and greed.
When it comes to blurring borders, by the way, the archbishop is an exception. He is able, and allowed, to cook up a killer potjie of church, state and party without contradiction. He is, when all is said and done, a private person beholden to nobody but himself.
All in all, today was a good day on the political front. I'd be keen to hear whether it was deemed such by Pallo, Cronin, Blade, Ramaphosa, Sexwale and others for whom I once held great respect. This is, after all, only the end of the beginning.
"Our country deserves better. The way of retribution leads to a banana republic."
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu | Tutu 'deeply disturbed' by ANC
